Compositions, methods and kits relating to HER-2 cleavage

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to compositions, methods and kits based on the ADAM-mediated cleavage of Her-2. The present invention also relates to treatments for cancer, and in particular, breast cancer, by modulating the ADAM-mediated cleavage of Her-2. Further, the invention relates to compositions, methods and kits based on the surprising synergistic effect between inhibition of Her-2 cleavage by an ADAM and certain cytostatic (e.g., Herceptin) and cytotoxic (e.g., Taxol) compounds in, among other things, inhibiting tumor cell proliferation and inducing cell death. Additionally, the invention relates to novel variants of ADAM15, designated ADAM15 variant 1 and ADAM15 variant 2, now identified and isolated.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 10/817,718, filedApr. 2, 2004 now U.S. Pat. No. 8,088,737, which claims priority to U.S.Ser. Nos. 60/460,678, filed Apr. 4, 2003; 60/472,494, filed May 22,2003; 60/532,030, filed Dec. 22, 2003; and 60/548,986, filed Mar. 1,2004, the disclosures of each of which are incorporated herein byreference in their entireties.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to compositions, methods and kits based onthe ADAM-mediated cleavage of Her-2. The present invention also relatesto treatments for cancer, and in particular, breast cancer, bymodulating the ADAM-mediated cleavage of Her-2. Further, the inventionrelates to compositions, methods and kits based on the surprisingsynergistic effect between inhibition of Her-2 cleavage by an ADAM andcertain cytostatic (e.g., Herceptin) and cytotoxic (e.g., Taxol)compounds in, among other things, inhibiting tumor cell proliferationand inducing cell death. Additionally, the invention relates to novelvariants of ADAM15, designated ADAM15 variant 1 and ADAM15 variant 2,now identified and isolated.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The HER-2/neu (erbB-2) oncogene encodes a receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK)that has been extensively investigated because of its role in severalhuman carcinomas (Hynes and Stern, 1994, Biochim. et Biophys. Acta1198:165-184; and Dougall et al., 1994, Oncogene 9:2109-2123) and inmammalian development (Lee et al., 1995, Nature 378:394-398). Her-2(also referred to as “erbB2,” “p185” or “c-neu”) is a 185 kDa member ofthe epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor tyrosine kinase family. Thesequence of the Her-2 protein was determined from a cDNA that was clonedby homology to the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mRNA fromplacenta (Coussens et al. 1985, Science 230:1132-1139) and from agastric carcinoma cell line (Yamamoto et al., 1986, Nature 319:230-234).The full-length HER-2 mRNA encodes a transmembrane glycoprotein of 185kDa in normal and malignant human tissues (p185HER-2) (Hynes and Steen,1994, Biochim. et Biophys. Acta 1198:165-184; and Dougall et al., 1994,Oncogene 9:2109-2123).

The function of the HER-2 gene has been examined mainly by expressingthe cDNA corresponding to the 4.5 kb transcript in transfected cells andfrom the structure and biochemical properties of the 185 kDa proteinproduct. P185HER-2 consists of a large extracellular domain, atransmembrane segment, and an intracellular domain with tyrosine kinaseactivity (Hynes and Stern, 1994, Biochim. et Biophys. Acta 1198:165-184;and Dougall et al., 1994, Oncogene 9:2109-2123). Overexpression ofp185HER-2 causes phenotypic transformation of cultured cells (DiFiore etal., 1987, Science 237:178-182; and Hudziak et al., 1987, Proc. Natl.Acad. Sci. USA 84:7159-7163) and has been associated with aggressiveclinical progression of breast and ovarian cancer (Slamon et al., 1987,Science 235:177-182; and Slamon et al., 1989, Science 244:707-712).

p185HER-2 is highly homologous to the EGFR. However, a ligand thatdirectly binds with high affinity to p185HER-2 has not yet beenidentified. Moreover, the signaling activity of HER-2 may be mediatedthrough heterodimerization with other ligand-binding members of the EGFRfamily (Carraway and Cantley, Cell 78:5-8, 1994; Earp et al., 1995,Breast Cancer Res. Treat. 35:115-132; and Qian et al., 1995, Oncogene10:211-219).

Divergent proteins, containing regions of the extracellular domains ofHER family RTKs, are generated through proteolytic processing of fulllength receptors (Lin and Clinton, 1991, Oncogene 6:639-643; Zabrecky etal., 1991, J. Biol. Chem. 266:1716-1720; Pupa et al., 1993, Oncogene8:2917-2923; Vecchi et al., 1996, J. Biol. Chem. 271:18989-18995; andVecchi and Carpenter, 1997, J. Cell Biol, 139:995-1003) and throughalternative RNA processing (Petch et al., 1990, Mol. Cell. Biol.10:2973-2982; Scott et al., 1993, Mol. Cell. Biol. 13:2247-2257; and Leeand Maihle, 1998, Oncogene 16:3243-3252).

The extracellular domain of p185HER-2 (hereinafter referred to as “ECD”)is proteolytically shed from breast carcinoma cells in culture (Petch etal., 1990, Mol. Cell. Biol. 10:2973-2982; Scott et al., 1993, Mol. Cell.Biol. 13:2247-2257; and Lee and Maihle, 1998, Oncogene 16:3243-3252),and is found in the serum of some cancer patients (Leitzel et al., 1992,J. Clin. Oncol. 10:1436-1443) where it is may be a serum marker ofmetastatic breast cancer (Leitzel et al., 1992, J. Clin. Oncol.10:1436-1443) and may allow escape of HER-2-rich tumors fromimmunological control (Baselga et al., 1997, J. Clin. Oncol. 14:737-744,Brodowicz et al., 1997, Int. J. Cancer 73:875-879). While shed Her-2 ECDserum levels correlate with tumor mass, additional studies havedemonstrated that shed Her-2 ECD serum levels represent an independentmarker of poor clinical outcome in patients with Her-2 overexpressingmetastatic breast cancer (Ali et al., 2002, Clin. Chem. 48:1314-1320;Molina et al., 2002, Clin. Cancer Res. 8:347-353).

A truncated extracellular domain of HER-2 is also the product of a 2.3kb alternative transcript generated by use of a polyadenylation signalwithin an intron (Scott et al., 1993, Mol. Cell. Biol. 13:2247-2257).The alternative transcript was first identified in the gastric carcinomacell line, MKN7 (Yamamoto et al., 1986, Nature 319:230-234; and Scott etal., 1993, Mol. Cell. Biol. 13:2247-2257) and the truncated receptor waslocated within the perinuclear cytoplasm rather than secreted from thesetumor cells (Scott et al., 1993, Mol. Cell. Biol. 13:2247-2257).However, no particular therapeutic, diagnostic or research utility hasbeen ascribed to this truncated extracellular domain polypeptide. Atruncated extracellular domain of the EGFR, generated by alternativesplicing (Petch et al., 1990, Mol. Cell. Biol. 10:2973-2982) issecreted, exhibits ligand-binding as well as dimerization properties(Basu et al., 1989, Mol. Cell. Biol. 9:671-677), and may have a dominantnegative effect on receptor function (Basu et al., 1989, Mol. Cell.Biol. 9:671-677; and Flickinger et al., 1992, Mol. Cell. Biol.12:883-893).

An additional alternatively spliced product of Her-2, designatedherstatin, has also been identified (Doherty et al., 1999, Proc. Natl.Acad. Sci. 96:10869-10874; Azios et al., 2001, Oncogene 20:5199-5209;Justman and Clinton, 2002, J. Biol. Chem. 277:20618-20624). This proteinconsists of subdomains I and II from the extracellular domain followedby a unique C-terminal sequence encoded by intron 8. Herstatin issecreted and binds with nanomolar affinity to EGFR family members. Itappears to function as an autoinhibitor by disrupting receptordimerization and receptor phosphorylation, resulting in inhibition ofAKT signaling and suppression of proliferation in EGFR or Her-2overexpressing cells. Herstatin was shown to be present at reducedlevels in Her-2 overexpressing tumor cells, suggesting that if Herstatinplays a role in regulating normal cell growth, this is circumvented intumor cells.

Signaling by the EGF family of receptors is initiated by ligand bindingwhich triggers homo- or hetero-receptor dimerization, reciprocaltyrosine phosphorylation of the cytoplasmic tails, and activation ofintracellular signal transduction pathways. The biologic consequence ofEGF receptor signaling is frequently associated with cellulardifferentiation, growth or survival.

Overexpression of Her-2 occurs in 25-30% of breast cancers. Patientswith Her-2 overexpressing tumors have a distinctly unfavorable clinicalcourse, characterized by shortened time to disease recurrence andreduced survival. The precise mechanisms responsible for thisassociation are not established. In this regard, it has been suggestedthat the overexpressed Her-2 receptor can more readily heterodimerizewith other EGF receptor family members that have bound ligands, therebyinitiating intracellular signaling cascades leading to growth andresistance to apoptosis. Alternatively, the high copy number of Her-2receptors on the tumor cell surface can promote ligand independentreceptor homodimerization, and intracellular signaling leading to tumorcell growth and survival.

Another mechanism that may account for poor clinical outcome in Her-2overexpressing tumors is suggested by the observation that, in someHer-2 overexpressing tumor cells, the receptor is processed by anunknown metalloprotease (or metalloproteinase) to yield a truncated,membrane-associated receptor (sometimes referred to as a “stub” and alsoknown as p95), and a soluble extracellular domain (also known as ECD,ECD105, or p105).

As with other EGF receptor family members, loss of the extracellularligand binding domain renders the Her-2 intracellularmembrane-associated domain a constitutively active tyrosine kinase. Ithas therefore been postulated that the processing of the Her-2extracellular domain creates a constitutively active receptor that candirectly deliver growth and survival signals to the cancer cell. In thisregard, it has been shown that an engineered version of Her-2, lackingthe extracellular domain, is 10-100 fold more efficient than the fulllength receptor in cellular transformation assays.

Moreover, the truncated form of Her-2 receptor (p95) has been shown tointeract with and potently activate signaling through the EGF receptor(also referred to as “Her-1”). Most compelling, immunohistochemicalanalysis of clinical breast cancer specimens strongly suggest that poorclinical outcome is more closely associated with the presence of thetruncated Her-2 receptor (p95) rather than the intact receptor (p185) inthe tumor cell as discussed by Clinton (U.S. Pat. No. 6,541,214).

The ADAM (A Disintegrin And Metalloprotease) family of proteases hasbeen demonstrated to catalyze cell surface ecto domain shedding ofspecific proteins (Moss and Lambert, 2002, Essays in Biochemistry38:141-153; Chang and Werb, 2001, Trends in Cell Biology 11:537-543,Seals and Courtneidge, 2003, Genes and Development 17:7-30). The domainstructure of ADAM family members places the protease catalytic domain ofthese type I membrane proteins extracellularly. From the amino terminusof the protein, the domains include a pro domain, catalytic domain,disintegrin domain, cysteine rich region and EGF repeat followed by thetransmembrane domain and cytoplasmic tail. The pro domain is processedto form the mature proteolytically active form. The disintegrin domainmay be involved in adhesion or substrate recognition and binding.

ADAM 10 was the first ADAM family member shown to have proteolyticactivity. It has been demonstrated to cleave proteins such as APP andNotch as well as other cell surface proteins. Of interest, substratesfor ADAM 10 include HB-EGF, a member of the epidermal growth factorfamily, which is important in cell transformation and mitogenesis.Cleavage of the extracellular domain of HB-EGF leads to the generationof a soluble fragment of HB-EGF that binds to and activates the EGFreceptor. ADAM 15 has also been demonstrated to be an active proteaseand has been shown to degrade both type IV collagen and gelatin. Inaddition, ADAM 15 has been shown to actively participate in binding tointegrins, including alpha5beta and alphavbeta3, through its disintegrindomain.

In Her-2 overexpressing cells, Her-2 had been found to undergo cleavageto form p95 in the presence of 4-aminophenylmercuric acetate (APMA), awell-known metalloprotease activator (Molina et al., 2001, Cancer Res.61:4744-4749). APMA-mediated cleavage of Her-2 to form p95 was found tobe inhibited in the same cells in the presence of batimastat, abroad-spectrum metalloprotease inhibitor. Additionally, Herceptin™ (alsoreferred to as trastuzumab), an anti-Her-2 monoclonal antibody that hasshown clinical efficacy in Her-2 overexpressing breast cancer, has beenshown to inhibit enzymatic cleavage of intact Her-2 (p185) into an ECDportion and the p95 constitutively active kinase membrane-associatedportion in vitro. It has been suggested that this cleavage-inhibitoryeffect of Herceptin™ may be mediated by antibody binding near theenzymatic clip site thereby interfering with cleavage enzyme-substrateinteraction via steric hindrance. However, the mechanism by whichHerceptin acts in the body (e.g., in vivo) remains unclear. Studies haveshown that Herceptin appears to have multiple cellular functions thatserve to inhibit Her-2 oncogenic signaling through different mechanisms(see, e.g., Baselga, et al., Seminars in Oncology, 2001, 28(5), suppl.16, pp 4-11 and Baselga et al., Annals of Oncology, 2001, 12, suppl. 1,pp S35-S41). While some studies propose that at least one of themechanisms of action of Herceptin is related to inhibition of Her-2shedding, other studies, in fact, show that shedding continues to occurin patients treated with the antibody (Pegram et al., Journal ofClinical Oncology, 1998, 16(8), 2659-2671).

Despite the prevalence, morbidity and mortality associated with breastcancer, and other Her-2 overexpressing malignancies, there are few, ifany, effective therapies for these diseases and disorders. Thus, thereis an acute need for treatments and therapeutics for Her-2overexpressing breast, and other, cancers, and the present inventionmeets this and other needs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides methods of treating cancer in a patient,wherein the cancer overexpresses Her-2, comprising administering to thepatient a therapeutically effective amount of an ADAM inhibitor.

The present invention further provides methods of treating cancer in apatient, wherein the cancer overexpresses Her-2, comprising inhibitingcleavage of Her-2 expressed in the cancer.

The present invention further provides methods of treating cancer in apatient, comprising inhibiting formation of p95.

The present invention further provides methods of treating cancer in apatient, wherein the cancer overexpresses Her-2 and the cancer expressesan ADAM that cleaves the Her-2, the method comprising inhibiting theHer-2 cleaving activity of the ADAM in the patient.

The present invention further provides methods of inhibiting metastasisof cancer in a patient comprising administering to the patient atherapeutically effective amount of an ADAM inhibitor.

The present invention further provides methods of inhibiting metastasisof cancer in a patient comprising inhibiting cleavage of Her-2 expressedin the cancer.

The present invention further provides methods of inhibiting metastasisof cancer in a patient, wherein the cancer overexpresses Her-2 and thecancer expresses an ADAM that cleaves the Her-2, comprising inhibitingthe Her-2 cleaving activity of the ADAM in the patient.

The present invention further provides methods of inhibiting growth of atumor in a patient, comprising administering to the patient atherapeutically effective amount of an ADAM inhibitor.

The present invention further provides methods of inhibiting growth of atumor in a patient comprising inhibiting cleavage of Her-2 expressed inthe tumor.

The present invention further provides methods of inhibiting growth of atumor in a patient, wherein the tumor overexpresses Her-2 and the tumorexpresses an ADAM that cleaves the Her-2, comprising inhibiting theHer-2 cleaving activity of the ADAM in the patient.

The present invention further provides an isolated nucleic acid encodinga mammalian ADAM15 variant and compositions thereof.

The present invention further provides an isolated mammalian ADAM15variant polypeptide and compositions thereof.

The present invention further provides methods of inhibiting cleavage ofHer-2 in a cell, the method comprising contacting a Her-2 expressingcell with a Her-2 cleavage-inhibiting amount of an ADAM inhibitor,thereby inhibiting cleavage of the Her-2 in the cell.

The present invention further provides methods of inhibiting cleavage ofHer-2 to produce p95-Her-2, the method comprising contacting an ADAMwith a cleavage-inhibiting amount of an ADAM inhibitor, therebyinhibiting cleavage of Her-2 to produce p95-Her-2.

The present invention further provides methods of inhibiting cleavage ofHer-2 in a cell, the method comprising contacting a Her-2 overexpressingcell with an isolated nucleic acid complementary to an isolated nucleicacid encoding a mammalian ADAM selected from the group consisting ofADAM10 and ADAM15, or a fragment thereof, the complementary nucleic acidbeing in an antisense orientation, thereby inhibiting cleavage of theHer-2 in the cell.

The present invention further provides methods of inhibiting cleavage ofHer-2 in a cell, the method comprising contacting a Her-2 overexpressingcell with a Her-2 synergistic cleavage-inhibiting amount of ametalloprotease inhibitor (MPI), wherein the MPI inhibits the activityof a mammalian ADAM selected from the group consisting of ADAM10 andADAM15, and further contacting the cell with a Her-2 synergisticcleavage-inhibiting amount of a Her-2 antagonistic antibody, therebyinhibiting cleavage of the Her-2 in the cell.

The present invention further provides methods of inhibiting release ofan extracellular domain (ECD) from a Her-2 on a Her-2 overexpressingcell, the method comprising contacting a Her-2 overexpressing cell witha Her-2 synergistic cleavage-inhibiting amount of an MPI, wherein theMPI inhibits the activity of a mammalian ADAM, and further contactingthe cell with a Her-2 synergistic cleavage-inhibiting amount of a Her-2antagonistic antibody, thereby inhibiting release of the ECD from theHer-2 on the cell.

The present invention further provides methods of inhibiting release ofan extracellular domain (ECD) from a Her-2 on a Her-2 overexpressingcell, the method comprising contacting a Her-2 overexpressing cell witha Her-2 synergistic cleavage-inhibiting amount of an MPI, wherein theMPI inhibits the activity of a mammalian ADAM selected from the groupconsisting of ADAM10 and ADAM15, and further contacting the cell with aHer-2 synergistic cleavage-inhibiting amount of a Her-2 antagonisticantibody, thereby inhibiting release of the ECD from the Her-2 on thecell.

The present invention further provides methods of inhibiting Her-2interaction with a mammalian ADAM, the method comprising contacting amixture comprising Her-2 and a mammalian ADAM with an agent thatspecifically binds with Her-2, wherein the ADAM is selected from thegroup consisting of ADAM10 and ADAM15.

The present invention further provides methods of inhibiting interactionof a mammalian ADAM with a Her-2 on a cell, the method comprisingcontacting a Her-2 overexpressing cell with an agent that specificallybinds with Her-2, thereby inhibiting the interaction of the ADAM withthe Her-2 on the cell.

The present invention further provides methods of inhibiting formationof p95 on a Her-2 expressing cell, the method comprising contacting aHer-2 overexpressing cell with a Her-2 cleavage-inhibiting amount of aninhibitor of a mammalian ADAM, thereby inhibiting formation of the p95on the cell.

The present invention further provides methods of inhibiting release ofan extracellular domain (ECD) portion from a Her-2 on a Her-2overexpressing cell, the method comprising contacting a Her-2overexpressing cell with a Her-2 cleavage-inhibiting amount of an ADAMinhibitor, thereby inhibiting release of the ECD from the Her-2 on thecell.

The present invention further provides methods of inhibiting formationof p95 on a Her-2 overexpressing cell, the method comprising contactinga Her-2 expressing cell with a Her-2 synergistic cleavage-inhibitingamount of an MPI, wherein the MPI inhibits the activity of a mammalianADAM, and further contacting the cell with a Her-2 synergisticcleavage-inhibiting amount of a Her-2 antagonistic antibody, therebyinhibiting formation of the p95 on the cell.

The present invention further provides methods of inhibiting growth of aHer-2 overexpressing cell, the method comprising contacting a Her-2overexpressing cell with a Her-2 cleavage-inhibiting amount of an ADAMinhibitor, thereby inhibiting growth of the Her-2 overexpressing cell.

The present invention further provides methods of inhibitingproliferation of a Her-2 overexpressing cell, the method comprisingcontacting a Her-2 overexpressing cell with a Her-2 cleavage-inhibitingamount of an ADAM inhibitor, thereby inhibiting proliferation of theHer-2 overexpressing cell.

The present invention further provides methods of inducing death of aHer-2 overexpressing cell, the method comprising contacting a Her-2overexpressing cell with a Her-2 cleavage-inhibiting amount of an ADAMinhibitor, thereby inducing death of the Her-2 overexpressing cell.

The present invention further provides methods of inhibiting growth of atumor cell overexpressing Her-2, the method comprising contacting thetumor cell with a Her-2 cleavage-inhibiting amount of an inhibitor ofADAM, thereby inhibiting cleavage of the Her-2 polypeptide therebyinhibiting growth of the tumor cell overexpressing Her-2.

The present invention further provides methods of inhibiting a signaltransduction mediated via a Her-2 receptor on a Her-2 overexpressingcell, the method comprising contacting a Her-2 overexpressing cell witha Her-2 cleavage-inhibiting amount of an ADAM inhibitor, therebyinhibiting cleavage of the Her-2, thereby inhibiting the signaltransduction mediated via a Her-2 receptor on the cell.

The present invention further provides methods of inhibiting growth of aHer-2 overexpressing cell, the method comprising contacting a Her-2overexpressing cell with a Her-2 synergistic cleavage-inhibiting amountof an MPI, wherein the MPI inhibits the activity of ADAM, and furthercontacting the cell with a Her-2 synergistic cleavage-inhibiting amountof a Her-2 antagonistic antibody, thereby inhibiting growth of the Her-2overexpressing cell.

The present invention further provides methods of inducing death of aHer-2 overexpressing cell, the method comprising contacting a Her-2overexpressing cell with a Her-2 synergistic cleavage-inhibiting amountof an MPI, wherein the MPI inhibits the activity of an ADAM, and with aHer-2 synergistic cleavage-inhibiting amount of a Her-2 antagonisticantibody, wherein the method further comprises contacting the cell withan effective amount of a cytotoxic agent, thereby inducing death of theHer-2 overexpressing cell.

The present invention further provides methods of inhibiting growth of atumor cell overexpressing Her-2, the method comprising:

contacting the tumor cell with a Her-2 synergistic cleavage-inhibitingamount of an MPI, wherein the MPI inhibits the activity of an ADAM, andfurther contacting the cell with a Her-2 synergistic cleavage-inhibitingamount of a Her-2 antagonistic antibody; thereby

inhibiting cleavage of the Her-2 polypeptide;

thereby inhibiting growth of the tumor cell overexpressing Her-2.

The present invention further provides methods of inhibiting a signaltransduction mediated via a Her-2 receptor on a Her-2 overexpressingcell, the method comprising contacting a Her-2 overexpressing cell witha Her-2 cleavage-inhibiting amount of an ADAM inhibitor, and furthercontacting the cell with a Her-2 synergistic cleavage-inhibiting amountof a Her-2 antagonistic antibody, thereby inhibiting cleavage of theHer-2, thereby inhibiting the signal transduction mediated via a Her-2receptor on the cell.

The present invention further provides methods of identifying a compoundthat inhibits proliferation of a Her-2 over-expressing cell byinteracting with an ADAM, the method comprising contacting a Her-2overexpressing cell with a test compound, wherein a lower level of p95in the cell contacted with the test compound compared with the level ofp95 in a second otherwise identical cell not contacted with the testcompound is an indication that the test compound inhibits the Her-2cleavage in the Her-2 over-expressing cell by binding to ADAM, therebyidentifying a compound that inhibits proliferation of a Her-2over-expressing cell by binding with the ADAM.

The present invention further provides methods of identifying a compoundthat inhibits cleavage of Her-2, the method comprising contacting anADAM with a test compound in a mixture comprising an ADAM substrate,assessing cleavage of the substrate, and comparing the cleavage of thesubstrate by the ADAM contacted with the compound with the cleavage ofthe substrate by an otherwise identical ADAM not contacted with thecompound, wherein a lower level of cleavage of the substrate by the ADAMcontacted with the test compound compared with the level of cleavage ofthe substrate by the otherwise identical ADAM not contacted with thetest compound is an indication that the test compound inhibits the Her-2cleavage, thereby identifying a compound that inhibits Her-2 cleavage.

The present invention further provides methods of treating a diseasemediated by overexpression of a Her-2 receptor in a human in needthereof, the method comprising administering to the human a Her-2receptor cleavage-inhibiting amount of an ADAM inhibitor, therebytreating the disease mediated by overexpression of a Her-2 receptor inthe human.

The present invention further provides compositions comprising a Her-2cleavage-inhibiting amount of an inhibitor of ADAM and apharmaceutically-acceptable carrier.

The present invention further provides kits for inhibiting cleavage ofHer-2, the it comprising a Her-2 synergistic cleavage-inhibiting amountof an MPI, wherein the MPI inhibits the activity of an ADAM, the kitfurther comprising a Her-2 synergistic cleavage-inhibiting amount of aHer-2 antagonistic antibody, and an applicator and an instructionalmaterial for the use thereof.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For the purpose of illustrating the invention, there are depicted in thedrawings certain embodiments of the invention. However, the invention isnot limited to the precise arrangements and instrumentalities of theembodiments depicted in the drawings.

FIG. 1 depicts a summary of the 23 human ADAM family genes. Thoseencoding functional protein are denoted with a “+” in column 1. HumanADAM1 and ADAM3 are pseudogenes and do not encode functional proteins,this is denoted by a “−” in the table. ADAM20 lacks introns in theprotein coding region ADAM20, with an analysis of the public domaingenomic and cDNA sequences for ADAM20 revealing that the open readingframe extents N-terminal of the consensus start methionine and contains50 N-terminal residues that lack a signal peptide. Based on thisanalysis, ADAM20 may encode a non-functional ADAM and is (denoted with“+/−”). Twelve human ADAM family members contain consensus sequences formetalloprotease active sites (HEXGHXXGXXHD (SEQ ID NO:45)) and aredenoted with a “+” in column three. Of these, seven were expressed tosome degree in all four shedding cell lines (denoted with a “+” incolumn four) while four were not expressed in at least one HER2 sheddingcell line (denoted with a “−”). The final list of HER2 sheddasecandidates are denoted with a “+” in column five. ADAM17 was ruled outas a candidate (“−”) since prior studies suggested it was not the HER2sheddase (Rio et al., 2002, J. Biol. Chem. 275:10379-10387). The genomicstructure of ADAM20 made it a less likely candidate (“+/−”).

FIG. 2 sets out the sequences of real-time PCR primers and probes usedto assess expression levels of the ADAM family members in HER-2 sheddingcell lines.

FIG. 3 depicts quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) analyses ofexpression of various ADAM proteins in Her-2 shedding cell lines BT474,SKOV3, SKBR3, MDA, and T47D. The degree of Her-2 shedding by each cellline is indicated by one or a series of plus marks “+” above the name ofthe cell line, with a greater number of plus marks indicating a greaterdegree of detectable Her-2 shedding. Her-2 shedding was assessed bydetection of ectodomain (ECD) in conditioned medium using ELTSA as morefully described elsewhere. The expression of a particular ADAM mRNAdetected in a cell line is indicated by a “+”, while a “−” indicates alack of expression in a cell line.

FIG. 4A is an image of a gel depicting ADAM10 protein level in a cellfollowing knockdown using siRNA. The image depicts an image of a westernblot demonstrating a reduction in ADAM10 detected in the presence of anADAM10 siRNA compared with the level of ADAM10 in a cell in the absenceof ADAM10siRNA (indicated as “mock” on the far left of the gel). Thedata further demonstrates the level of ADAM9 was not detectably affectedby ADAM10 siRNA demonstrating the effect was specific for the ADAMtargeted by the particular siRNA. The position of a 98 kD band and 64 kDmolecular weight standards are shown at left.

FIG. 4B is an image of a gel depicting a western blot analysis. The datadisclosed demonstrate that the level of ADAM9 was decreased by about 75%compared with the level of ADAM9 in the absence of ADAM9 siRNA. The datafurther demonstrate that the effect was specific for the siRNA used inthat the image depicts that ADAM10 siRNA did not detectably affect thelevel of ADAM9 (three lanes on the far right of the figure). Theposition of a 98 kD band and 64 kD molecular weight standards are shownat left.

FIG. 4C is an image of a gel depicting a western blot analysis. Thearrow denotes the position of ADAM15, with the upper band on the blotrepresenting a protein that reacts with the ADAM15 antibodynon-specifically. The image depicts that the level of ADAM15 wasdecreased by about 75% in cells treated with ADAM15 siRNAs (lanesindicated by “15” at the top of the figure) compared with the level ofADAM15 in the absence of siRNAs (lanes indicated by “mock”). The datafurther demonstrate that the effect was specific for the siRNA in thatthe image depicts that ADAM8 siRNA (lane labeled “8”), ADAM9 siRNA (lanelabeled “9”), ADAM10 siRNA (lane labeled “10”), ADAM33 siRNA (lanelabeled “33”) did not detectably affect the level of ADAM15. Theposition of a 98 kD band and 64 kD molecular weight standards areindicated along the left side of the image.

FIG. 4D is an image of a gel depicting a western blot analysis. Thearrow denotes the position of ADAM17, with the lower band representing aprotein that reacts with the ADAM17 antibody non-specifically. The datadisclosed demonstrate that the level of ADAM17 was reduced byapproximately 90% in cells treated with ADAM17 siRNAs (lanes indicatedby “17” at the top of the figure) compared with the level of ADAM17 inthe absence of siRNAs (lanes indicated by “mock”). The data furtherdemonstrate that the effect was specific for the siRNA used in thatadministration of siRNAs against ADAMs 9, 10, and 15 (lanes indicated by“9”, “10”, and “15”, respectively) to cells did not detectably alter thelevel of ADAM17 in those cells.

FIG. 5A is a bar graph depicting the effect of an siRNA to an ADAM onthe level of Her-2 shedding as assessed by detecting shed ectodomain inconditioned BT474 cell medium using ELISA detection assay. Ectodomainshedding in conditioned medium obtained from BT474 cells in the presenceof siRNA for ADAM8, ADAM9, ADAM10, ADAM15 and ADAM33 was assessed andthe data demonstrate about 50-70% reduction in Her-2 shedding in cellsin the presence of siRNA ADAM10 while Her-2 shedding was not detectablyaffected by the other siRNAs, except for ADAM15 siRNA which decreasedHer-2 shedding by about 10% compared with mock control cells.

FIG. 5B is a bar graph depicting the level of Her-2 shedding (asmeasured by ectodomain release into conditioned medium) from SKBR3 cellsin the presence of siRNA for ADAM8, ADAM9, ADAM10 and ADAM15. The datademonstrate that siRNA ADAM10 decreased the level of Her-2 shedding byabout 50-70% while siRNA ADAM15 reduced shedding by about 25-30%compared with Her-2 shedding by SKBR3 cells in the absence of siRNA(i.e., “mock” cells). The data further show that siRNAs for ADAM8,ADAM9, and ADAM33 had no detectable effect on HER2 shedding.

FIG. 6 is a graph depicting the lack of correlation between inhibitionof sheddase and inhibition of MMP2 using 498 compounds. The figure setsforth a logarithmic plot of the IC50 values of various compounds forinhibition of MMP2 versus the IC50 values of the same compounds forinhibition of Her-2 sheddase activity. Points falling outside of theupper and lower parallel lines are greater than 10-fold divergent fromthe ideal correlation curve (middle line).

FIG. 7 is a graph depicting the lack of correlation between inhibitionof sheddase and inhibition of MMP12 using over 500 compounds. The graphsets forth a logarithmic plot of the IC50 values of various compoundsfor inhibition of MMP12 versus the IC50 values of the same compounds forinhibition of Her-2 sheddase activity. Points falling outside of theupper and lower parallel lines are greater than 10-fold divergent fromthe ideal correlation curve (middle line).

FIG. 8 is a graph depicting the lack of correlation between inhibitionof sheddase and inhibition of TACE (ADAM17) using over 500 compounds.The figure sets forth a graph depicting a logarithmic plot of the IC50values of various compounds for inhibition of TACE (ADAM17) versus theIC50 values of the same compounds for inhibition of Her-2 sheddaseactivity. Points falling outside of the upper and lower parallel linesare greater than 10-fold divergent from the ideal correlation curve(middle line).

FIG. 9 is a graph depicting the lack of correlation between inhibitionof sheddase and inhibition of ADAM9 using 42 compounds. The figure setsforth a graph depicting a logarithmic plot of the IC50 values of variouscompounds for inhibition of ADAM9 versus the IC50 values of the samecompounds for inhibition of Her-2 sheddase activity. Points fallingoutside of the upper and lower parallel lines are greater than 10-folddivergent from the ideal correlation curve (middle line).

FIG. 10 is a graph depicting the strong correlation between inhibitionof sheddase and inhibition of ADAM10 using over 500 compounds. Thefigure sets forth a graph depicting a logarithmic plot of the IC50values of various compounds for inhibition of ADAM10 versus the IC50values of the same compounds for inhibition of Her-2 sheddase activity.Points falling outside of the upper and lower parallel lines are greaterthan 10-fold divergent from the ideal correlation curve (middle line).

FIG. 11 is a schematic depicting alternative splicing in the humanADAM15 gene. Boxes denote exons with lines showing position of introns.The splicing pattern of the published human sequence is shown on the topjust above the genome exon/intron structure. The two alternativelyspliced variants are shown below the genomic structure with unshadedboxes delineating alternatively spliced exons.

FIGS. 12A-1 and 12A-2 set forth the nucleic acid sequence of humanADAM10 (SEQ ID NO:5).

FIG. 12B sets forth the amino acid sequence of human ADAM10 (SEQ IDNO:6).

FIGS. 13A-1 and 13A-2 set forth the nucleic acid sequence of novel humanADAM15 variant 1 (SEQ ID NO:1). This variant is the most abundant ADAM15variant detected in the cell lines examined as described elsewhere.

FIG. 13B sets forth the amino acid sequence of novel human ADAM15variant 1 (SEQ ID NO:2).

FIGS. 14A-1 and 14A-2 set forth the nucleic acid sequence of novel humanADAM15 variant 2 (SEQ ID NO:3), which is the longest form.

FIG. 14B sets forth the amino acid sequence of novel human ADAM15variant 2 (SEQ ID NO:4).

FIG. 15 is a graph depicting inhibition of Her-2 cleavage by arepresentative MPI (Compound 4) in Her-2 overexpressing BT-474 cells.

FIG. 16 is an image of a Western Blot depicting inhibition of Her-2cleavage in BT-474 cells (top panel) and in SK-BR3 cells (bottom panel)at varying concentrations of the MPI Compound 4. Both cell linesoverexpress Her-2. The Western Blot assessed the presence of a proteinof about 105 kDa, the size of Her-2 ECD, in culture supernatants andconfirmed the ELISA results indicated at the right of each panel.

FIG. 17 is a graph depicting inhibition of Her-2 cleavage by arepresentative MPI (Compound 4) in a primary breast tumor cell line thatover expresses Her-2.

FIG. 18 is a diagram depicting that at the concentrations indicated,Her-2 sheddase-selective inhibitor Compound 5 synergistically enhancesthe antiproliferative activity of a suboptimal dose of Herceptin™ inHer-2 overexpressing BT474 cells (top panel) but not in MCF7 cells whichdo not overexpress Her-2 (bottom panel). Compound 5: Her-2 sheddase IC50(198-250 nM), ADAM10 IC50 (98 nM), MMP12 IC50 (584 nM), MMP2 (inactive)and MMP3 (inactive).

FIG. 19 is a diagram depicting that at the concentrations indicated,Her-2 sheddase inactive inhibitor Compound 6 (but MMP-active) does notenhance the antiproliferative activity of a suboptimal dose ofHerceptin™ in either Her-2 overexpressing BT474 (top panel) or MCF7cells which do not overexpress Her-2 (bottom panel). Compound 6: Her-2sheddase (inactive), MMP12 IC50 (1.95 nM), MMP2 IC50 (0.65 nM).

FIG. 20 is an image of a gel depicting the synergistic inhibition of ERK(top panel) and AKT (bottom panel) phosphorylation in Her-2overexpressing BT474 cells by Herceptin and the MPI Compound 4, at theconcentrations indicated.

FIG. 21 is an image of a Western blot depicting inhibition of Her-2cleavage in BT-474 cells at varying concentrations of a representativeMPI (Compound 4) alone, Herceptin alone or the MPI in combination withHerceptin. The Western blot assessed the presence of a protein of about105 kDa, the size of the Her-2 ECD in culture supernatants anddemonstrates an additive effect of Herceptin and the MPI in blockingHer-2 cleavage.

FIG. 22 is a graph depicting that a broad specificity MP inhibitor,Compound 7, synergistically enhances the antiproliferative activity of asuboptimal dose of Herceptin™ in Her-2 overexpressing BT474 cells.Synergistic enhancement has been detected when cells were treated withsuboptimal doses of Herceptin™ ranging from 0.067 to 5 μg/ml and anefficacious dose (1 μM) of Compound 7. Compound 7: Her-2 sheddase IC50(20-100 nM).

FIG. 23 is a graph depicting that at the concentrations indicated,combinations of Compound 7 and Herceptin™ significantly enhance theantitumor activity of Taxol™ in Her-2 overexpressing BT474 cells.Significant enhancement was also detected in similar studies in whichTaxol™ was replaced with other chemotherapeutic agents (e.g.,Cisplatin™), as well as in other Her-2 overexpressing breast cancer celllines (e.g., SKBR3). Compound 7: Her-2 sheddase IC50 (20-100 nM).

FIG. 24 is a graph depicting that at the concentrations indicated,combinations of Compound 7 and Herceptin™ have no effect on antitumoractivity of Taxol™ in MCF7 cells that do not overexpress Her-2.Similarly, no effect was detected in similar studies in which Taxol™ wasreplaced with other chemotherapeutic agents (e.g., Cisplatin™) in MCF7cells.

FIG. 25 is a graph depicting that at the concentrations indicated,combinations of Compound 7 and Herceptin™ significantly enhanceTaxol™-inducing apoptosis of Her-2 overexpressing BT474 cells. Theincreased level of apoptosis was also detected in similar studies inwhich Taxol™ was replaced with other chemotherapeutic agents (e.g.,Cisplatin) in BT474 cells, as well as in other Her-2 overexpressingbreast cancer cell lines (e.g., SKBR3), but not in MCF7 cells, which donot overexpress Her-2. Compound 7 Her-2 sheddase IC50 (20-100 nM).

FIG. 26 is a graph depicting that at the concentrations indicated,combinations of Compound 7 and Herceptin™ enhance the antiproliferativeactivity of Iressa™ in Her-2 overexpressing BT474 cells. No enhancedantiproliferative activity of Iressa™ has been detected in MCF7 cellsthat do not overexpress Her-2. Iressa™ is a synthetic small moleculekinase inhibitor that selectively inhibits epidermal growth factorreceptor-1. Compound 7: sheddase IC50 (20-100 nM).

FIG. 27A presents graphical data showing that Compound 2 effectivelyreduces Her-2 shedding in BT-474-SC1 tumor bearing mice.

FIG. 27B provides a statistical comparison of vehicle and Compound 2treated BT-474-SC1 tumor bearing mice groups showing that Compound 2reduced levels of Her-2 ECD.

FIG. 28A presents graphical data showing that Compound 2 effectivelyreduces tumor volume in BT-474-SC1 tumor bearing mice.

FIG. 28B provides a statistical comparison of vehicle and Compound 2treated BT-474-SC1 tumor bearing mice groups showing that Compound 2reduced tumor volume.

FIG. 29 shows reduction of tumor volume in BT-474-SC1 tumor bearing micefor Herceptin and Compound 3 compared with vehicle control.

FIG. 30A shows tumor tissue stained with antibodies for Ki67 (upper) orphosphorylated Akt (lower), marker for cellular proliferation.

FIG. 30B shows immunoblots of for equal amounts of phosphorylated Akt ortotal Akt in tumor tissue samples treated with either vehicle orCompound 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention relates to the novel finding that ADAMpolypeptides including, for example, ADAM10 and ADAM15, cleave the Her-2receptor to produce p95, simultaneously releasing a solubleextracellular domain, ECD105 (also referred to herein as the“ectodomain”), from the Her-2 receptor. p95 is a truncated,membrane-associated receptor that, upon production, becomesconstitutively active.

The present invention provides an advancement in that the data disclosedherein demonstrate that ADAM10 and ADAM15, mediate cleavage of Her-2 toproduce an ECD and a p95 stub portion. Further, the present inventionrelates to methods for specifically inhibiting the cleavage of Her-2using a wide plethora of cleavage inhibitors, including, but not limitedto, siRNA, an antibody specific for either Her-2 or ADAM (10, 15, orboth), a metalloproteinase (or metalloprotease) inhibitor (MPI) specificor selective for ADAM (e.g., ADAM10, ADAM15, or both), an antisenseoligonucleotide, and the like. That is because, as would be appreciatedby the skilled artisan based upon the disclosure provided herein,identification of ADAM10 and ADAM15, as enzymes involved in cleavage ofHer-2 and associated production of p95, provides a plethora ofapproaches for the treatment of a disease, disorder or conditionmediated by cleavage of Her-2 in a cell, a tissue, or a patient in needof such treatment.

Moreover, the present invention pertains to nucleic acids and proteinsrelated to ADAM10, ADAM15, and Her-2, including DNA, RNA, vectors, hostcells, peptides, and enzymes. More specifically, the present inventionrelates to inhibitors of Her-2 cleavage, including, but not limited to,siRNA, MPIs, and the like, since these inhibitors would be useful ininhibiting the growth, inducing the death, or both, of a Her-2overexpressing cell where such cell was involved in, or mediated adisease, disorder or condition in a human.

The present invention further relates to the novel finding that ametalloprotease inhibitor (MPI) that inhibits cleavage of Her-2, whencombined with a cytostatic agent that antagonizes Her-2 mediated cellgrowth, such as an antibody to Her-2, as exemplified by Herceptin™,provides a synergistic effect that inhibits the growth of a Her-2overexpressing tumor cell. Further, when the Her-2 overexpressing tumorcell is further contacted with a cytotoxic agent, such as, but notlimited to, Taxol™, and/or an inhibitor of a member of the epidermalgrowth factor receptor tyrosine kinase family (such as, but not limitedto, Iressa™), the synergistic effect enhances the killing of the tumorcell overexpressing Her-2 or the growth inhibition of the tumor cell,respectively. Thus, the present invention provides novel synergisticmethods and compositions for inhibiting the growth of and/or mediatingthe death of tumor cells that overexpress Her-2.

Definitions

As used herein, each of the following terms has the meaning associatedwith it in this section.

The articles “a” and “an” are used herein to refer to one or to morethan one (i.e., to at least one) of the grammatical object of thearticle. By way of example, “an element” means one element or more thanone element.

As used herein, to “alleviate” a disease means reducing the severity ofone or more symptoms of the disease.

By the term “antagonistic antibody”, as the term used herein, is meantan antibody that specifically binds with Her-2 thereby mediatingdetectable growth inhibition of a Her-2 overexpressing tumor cell. Itwould be understood that such antibody can be considered an “agonist” incertain respects in that it can, but need not, also mediate, among otherthings, detectable phosphorylation of the Her-2 receptor and/or affect aprocess associated with such phosphorylation and/or signaling via thereceptor.

“ADAM inhibitor,” as used herein, means any compound or substance,whether a protein, nucleic acid, small molecule, or the like, thatdetectably reduces cleavage of Her-2 (as assessed by detectingproduction of ECD, p95, or both, by a wide plethora of methods) comparedwith the cleavage of Her-2 in the absence of the compound. Assessment ofHer-2 cleavage can be performed by any method for detecting ECD, p95, orboth, as known in the art, as disclosed herein, and/or as developed inthe future.

“Antisense” refers particularly to the nucleic acid sequence of thenon-coding strand of a double stranded DNA molecule encoding a protein,or to a sequence which is substantially homologous to the non-codingstrand. As defined herein, an antisense sequence is complementary to thesequence of a double stranded DNA molecule encoding a protein. It is notnecessary that the antisense sequence be complementary solely to thecoding portion of the coding strand of the DNA molecule. The antisensesequence may be complementary to regulatory sequences specified on thecoding strand of a DNA molecule encoding a protein, which regulatorysequences control expression of the coding sequences.

The term “apoptosis,” as used herein, means an active process, involvingthe activation of a preexisting cellular pathway, induced by anextracellular or intracellular signal, causing the programmed death ofthe cell. In particular, the programmed cell death involves nuclearfragmentation, chromatin condensation, and the like, in a cell with anintact membrane.

By the term “applicator,” as the term is used herein, is meant anydevice including, but not limited to, a hypodermic syringe, a pipette,and the like, for administering the compounds and compositions of theinvention.

A “cell cycle process,” as used herein, means any cellular function orprocess associated with the cell cycle and the various phases thereof.Thus, a cell cycle process is one associated with, or which mediates oris involved in, the cell progressing through any portion of the cellcycle.

A “disease” is a state of health of an animal wherein the animal cannotmaintain homeostasis, and wherein if the disease is not ameliorated,then the animal's health continues to deteriorate. In contrast, a“disorder” in an animal is a state of health in which the animal is ableto maintain homeostasis, but in which the animal's state of health isless favorable than it would be in the absence of the disorder. Leftuntreated, a disorder does not necessarily cause a further decrease inthe animal's state of health.

By the term “effective amount of a cytotoxic compound”, as used herein,is meant an amount that when administered to a cell mediates adetectable level of cell death compared to the cell death detected inthe absence of the compound. Cell death can be readily assessed by aplethora of art-recognized methods such as, but not limited to,performing a cell count to assess the number of viable cells before andafter administration of the cytotoxic compound, assessing the level ofbiomolecular synthesis (e.g., protein synthesis, nucleic acid synthesis,and the like), trypan blue exclusion, MTT reduction, uptake of propidiumiodide, exposure of phosphatidylserine on the cell surface, DNAfragmentation and/or ladder formation, and the like, in a cell.

The skilled artisan would understand that the amount of the compound orcomposition administered herein varies and can be readily determinedbased on a number of factors such as the disease or condition beingtreated, the age and health and physical condition of the mammal beingtreated, the severity of the disease, the particular compound beingadministered, and the like.

“Inducing cell death,” as used herein, refers to any detectable increasein cell death in a cell contacted with a compound compared with celldeath in an otherwise identical cell not contacted with the compound.Any detectable increase in the cell death in the cells contacted withthe compound indicates that the compound induces cell death.

As used herein, the term “inhibiting,” such as in relation to aparticular biological process or activity, is meant to refer to theblocking, curbing or lessening of such process of activity. For example,inhibiting the activity of a receptor refers to decreasing, eitherwholly or partially, at least one measurable effect of the receptoractivity. “Substantially inhibiting” refers to total blocking orsignificant lessening of a biological process or activity. For example,if the activity of a receptor is measurably decreased by about 75% ormore of normal activity, the activity can be said to be substantiallyinhibited.

As used herein, the term “contacting,” such as in reference to thecontacting of a pharmaceutical agent (e.g., an ADAM inhibitor) with acell or tissue, is meant to refer to the bringing together of thepharmaceutical agent and cell or tissue such that a physiological and/orchemical effect takes place as a result of the contacting agents.Contacting can take place in vitro, ex vivo or in vivo. For example, apharmaceutical agent can be contacted with a cell culture in vitro todetermine the effect of the pharmaceutical agent on the cells. In afurther example, contacting of a pharmaceutical agent with a cell ortissue includes the administration of a pharmaceutical agent to apatient having the cell or tissue to be contacted. In some embodiments,when two or more pharmaceutical agents are contacted with a cell ortissue, the contacting can occur simultaneously or in succession (e.g.,contacting of one pharmaceutical agent at a time, in any sequence). Forexample, when contacting is carried out in vivo, the two or morepharmaceutical agents can be administered to a patient at the same time(i.e., simultaneously), or in succession. In the event that thecontacting of two or more agents with a cell or tissue is desired suchthat the physiological effects of the contacting related to eachpharmaceutical agent overlap, such as when a synergistic effect isdesired, then administration of the two or more pharmaceutical agentscan be carried out either simultaneously or in succession within acertain time period that would allow the contacting agents to act on thecell or tissue of the patient at the same time.

By the term “inhibiting proliferation,” as used herein, can be gauged bya detectable decrease in the growth of a cell, as assessed by, amongother things, counting the number of cells contacted with a compound ofinterest and comparing the cell proliferation with otherwise identicalcells not contacted which the compound. That is, the number of cells, aswell as the size of the cells, can be readily assessed using any methodknown in the art (e.g., trypan blue exclusion and cell counting,measuring incorporation of ³H-thymidine into nascent DNA in a cell, andthe like), or such methods as are developed in the future. Theproliferation of the cells contacted with a compound is compared withthe proliferation of otherwise identical cells not contacted and anydetectable decrease in proliferation indicates that the compoundinhibits proliferation.

“Instructional material,” as that term is used herein, includes apublication, a recording, a diagram, or any other medium of expressionwhich can be used to communicate the usefulness of the compositionand/or compound of the invention in the kit for effecting alleviating ortreating the various diseases or disorders recited herein. Optionally,or alternately, the instructional material may describe one or moremethods of alleviating the diseases or disorders in a cell or a tissueof a mammal, including affecting a cell expressing or over-expressingHer-2, as disclosed elsewhere herein.

The instructional material of the kit may, for example, be affixed to acontainer that contains the compound and/or composition of the inventionor be shipped together with a container which contains the compoundand/or composition. Alternatively, the instructional material may beshipped separately from the container with the intention that therecipient uses the instructional material and the compoundcooperatively.

By “complementary to a portion or all of the nucleic acid encoding ADAMis meant a sequence of nucleic acid which does not encode an ADAMprotein. Rather, the sequence which is being expressed in the cells isidentical to the non-coding strand of the nucleic acid encoding ADAMprotein and thus, does not encode ADAM protein.

The terms “complementary” and “antisense” as used herein, are notentirely synonymous. “Antisense” refers particularly to the nucleic acidsequence of the non-coding strand of a double stranded DNA moleculeencoding a protein, or to a sequence which is substantially homologousto the non-coding strand.

“Complementary” as used herein refers to the broad concept of subunitsequence complementarity between two nucleic acids, e.g., two DNAmolecules. When a nucleotide position in both of the molecules isoccupied by nucleotides normally capable of base pairing with eachother, then the nucleic acids are considered to be complementary to eachother at this position. Thus, two nucleic acids are complementary toeach other when a substantial number (at least 50%) of correspondingpositions in each of the molecules are occupied by nucleotides whichnormally base pair with each other (e.g., A:T and G:C nucleotide pairs).As defined herein, an antisense sequence is complementary to thesequence of a double stranded DNA molecule encoding a protein, It is notnecessary that the antisense sequence be complementary solely to thecoding portion of the coding strand of the DNA molecule. The antisensesequence may be complementary to regulatory sequences specified on thecoding strand of a DNA molecule encoding a protein, which regulatorysequences control expression of the coding sequences.

A “coding region” of a gene consists of the nucleotide residues of thecoding strand of the gene and the nucleotides of the non-coding strandof the gene which are homologous with or complementary to, respectively,the coding region of an mRNA molecule which is produced by transcriptionof the gene.

A “coding region” of an mRNA molecule also consists of the nucleotideresidues of the mRNA molecule which are matched with an anticodon regionof a transfer RNA molecule during translation of the mRNA molecule orwhich encode a stop codon. The coding region may thus include nucleotideresidues corresponding to amino acid residues which are not present inthe mature protein encoded by the mRNA molecule (e.g., amino acidresidues in a protein export signal sequence).

“Encoding” refers to the inherent property of specific sequences ofnucleotides in a polynucleotide, such as a gene, a cDNA, or an mRNA, toserve as templates for synthesis of other polymers and macromolecules inbiological processes having either a defined sequence of nucleotides(i.e., rRNA, tRNA and mRNA) or a defined sequence of amino acids and thebiological properties resulting therefrom. Thus, a gene encodes aprotein if transcription and translation of mRNA corresponding to thatgene produces the protein in a cell or other biological system. Both thecoding strand, the nucleotide sequence of which is identical to the mRNAsequence and is usually provided in sequence listings, and thenon-coding strand, used as the template for transcription of a gene orcDNA, can be referred to as encoding the protein or other product ofthat gene or cDNA.

Unless otherwise specified, a “nucleotide sequence encoding an aminoacid sequence” includes all nucleotide sequences that are degenerateversions of each other and that encode the same amino acid sequence.Nucleotide sequences that encode proteins and RNA may include introns.

“Expression vector” refers to a vector comprising a recombinantpolynucleotide comprising expression control sequences operativelylinked to a nucleotide sequence to be expressed. An expression vectorcomprises sufficient cis-acting elements for expression; other elementsfor expression can be supplied by the host cell or in an in vitroexpression system. Expression vectors include all those known in theart, such as cosmids, plasmids (e.g., naked or contained in liposomes)and viruses (e.g., retroviruses, adenoviruses, and adeno-associatedviruses) that incorporate the recombinant polynucleotide.

A first region of an oligonucleotide “flanks” a second region of theoligonucleotide if the two regions are adjacent one another or if thetwo regions are separated by no more than about 1000 nucleotideresidues, and preferably no more than about 100 nucleotide residues.

As used herein, the term “fragment” as applied to a nucleic acid, mayordinarily be at least about 20 nucleotides in length, preferably, atleast about 50 nucleotides, more typically, from about 50 to about 100nucleotides, preferably, at least about 100 to about 200 nucleotides,even more preferably, at least about 200 nucleotides to about 300nucleotides, yet even more preferably, at least about 300 to about 350,even more preferably, at least about 350 nucleotides to about 500nucleotides, yet even more preferably, at least about 500 to about 600,and most preferably, the nucleic acid fragment will be greater thanabout 600 nucleotides in length.

As applied to a protein, a “fragment” of an ADAM is about 20 amino acidsin length. More preferably, the fragment of an ADAM is about 30 aminoacids, even more preferably, at least about 40, yet more preferably, atleast about 60, even more preferably, at least about 80, yet morepreferably, at least about 100, even more preferably, about 100, andmore preferably, at least about 150, more preferably, at least about200, yet more preferably, at least about 250, even more preferably, atleast about 300, and more preferably, at least about 320 amino acids inlength amino acids in length.

A “genomic DNA” is a DNA strand which has a nucleotide sequencehomologous with a gene. By way of example, both a fragment of achromosome and a cDNA derived by reverse transcription of a mammalianmRNA are genomic DNAs.

“Homologous” as used herein, refers to the subunit sequence similaritybetween two polymeric molecules, e.g., between two nucleic acidmolecules, e.g., two DNA molecules or two RNA molecules, or between twopolypeptide molecules. When a subunit position in both of the twomolecules is occupied by the same monomeric subunit, e.g., if a positionin each of two DNA molecules is occupied by adenine, then they arehomologous at that position. The homology between two sequences is adirect function of the number of matching or homologous positions, e.g.,if half (e.g., five positions in a polymer ten subunits in length) ofthe positions in two compound sequences are homologous then the twosequences are 50% homologous, if 90% of the positions, e.g., 9 of 10,are matched or homologous, the two sequences share 90% homology. By wayof example, the DNA sequences 5′-ATTGCC-3′ and 5′-TATGGC-3′ share 50%homology.

As used herein, “homology” is used synonymously with “identity.”

In addition, when the terms “homology” or “identity” are used herein torefer to the nucleic acids and proteins, it should be construed to beapplied to homology or identity at both the nucleic acid and the aminoacid sequence levels.

A first oligonucleotide anneals with a second oligonucleotide with “highstringency” or “under high stringency conditions” if the twooligonucleotides anneal under conditions whereby only oligonucleotideswhich are at least about 60%, more preferably at least about 65%, evenmore preferably at least about 70%, yet more preferably at least about80%, and preferably at least about 90% or, more preferably, at leastabout 95% complementary anneal with one another. The stringency ofconditions used to anneal two oligonucleotides is a function of, amongother factors, temperature, ionic strength of the annealing medium, theincubation period, the length of the oligonucleotides, the G-C contentof the oligonucleotides, and the expected degree of non-homology betweenthe two oligonucleotides, if known. Methods of adjusting the stringencyof annealing conditions are known (see, e.g., Sambrook et al., 1989, In:Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory,New York).

The determination of percent identity between two nucleotide or aminoacid sequences can be accomplished using a mathematical algorithm. Forexample, a mathematical algorithm useful for comparing two sequences isthe algorithm of Karlin and Altschul (1990, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA87:2264-2268), modified as in Karlin and Altschul (1993, Proc. Natl.Acad. Sci. USA 90:5873-5877). This algorithm is incorporated into theNBLAST and XBLAST programs of Altschul, et al. (1990, J. Mol. Biol.215:403-410), and can be accessed, for example, at the National Centerfor Biotechnology Information (NCBI) world wide web government site ofthe National Library of Medicine as part of the National Institutes ofHealth. BLAST nucleotide searches can be performed with the NBLASTprogram (designated “blastn” at the NCBI web site), using the followingparameters: gap penalty=5; gap extension penalty=2; mismatch penalty=3;match reward=1; expectation value 10.0; and word size=11 to obtainnucleotide sequences homologous to a nucleic acid described herein.BLAST protein searches can be performed with the XBLAST program(designated “blastn” at the NCBI web site) or the NCBI “blastp” program,using the following parameters: expectation value 10.0, BLOSUM62 scoringmatrix to obtain amino acid sequences homologous to a protein moleculedescribed herein.

To obtain gapped alignments for comparison purposes, Gapped BLAST can beutilized as described in Altschul et al. (1997, Nucleic Acids Res.25:3389-3402). Alternatively, PSI-Blast or PHI-Blast can be used toperform an iterated search which detects distant relationships betweenmolecules (id.) and relationships between molecules which share a commonpattern. When utilizing BLAST, Gapped BLAST, PSI-Blast, and PHI-Blastprograms, the default parameters of the respective programs (e.g.,XBLAST and NBLAST) can be used. See publicly available government website of National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) of theNational Library of Medicine at the National Institutes of Health.

The percent identity between two sequences can be determined usingtechniques similar to those described above, with or without allowinggaps. In calculating percent identity, typically exact matches arecounted.

An “isolated nucleic acid” refers to a nucleic acid segment or fragmentwhich has been separated from sequences which flank it in a naturallyoccurring state, e.g., a DNA fragment which has been removed from thesequences which are normally adjacent to the fragment, e.g., thesequences adjacent to the fragment in a genome in which it naturallyoccurs. The term also applies to nucleic acids which have beensubstantially purified from other components which naturally accompanythe nucleic acid, e.g., RNA or DNA or proteins, which naturallyaccompany it in the cell. The term therefore includes, for example, arecombinant DNA which is incorporated into a vector, into anautonomously replicating plasmid or virus, or into the genomic DNA of aprokaryote or eukaryote, or which exists as a separate molecule (e.g.,as a cDNA or a genomic or cDNA fragment produced by PCR or restrictionenzyme digestion) independent of other sequences. It also includes arecombinant DNA which is part of a hybrid gene encoding additionalpolypeptide sequence.

In the context of the present invention, the following abbreviations forthe commonly occurring nucleic acid bases are used. “A” refers toadenosine, “C” refers to cytidine, “G” refers to guanosine, “T” refersto thymidine, and “C” refers to uridine.

By describing two polynucleotides as “operably linked” is meant that asingle-stranded or double-stranded nucleic acid moiety comprises the twopolynucleotides arranged within the nucleic acid moiety in such a mannerthat at least one of the two polynucleotides is able to exert aphysiological effect by which it is characterized upon the other. By wayof example, a promoter operably linked to the coding region of a gene isable to promote transcription of the coding region.

Preferably, when the nucleic acid encoding the desired protein furthercomprises a promoter/regulatory sequence, the promoter/regulatory ispositioned at the 5′ end of the desired protein coding sequence suchthat it drives expression of the desired protein in a cell. Together,the nucleic acid encoding the desired protein and itspromoter/regulatory sequence comprise a “transgene.”

As used herein, the term “promoter/regulatory sequence” means a nucleicacid sequence which is required for expression of a gene productoperably linked to the promoter/regulatory sequence. In some instances,this sequence may be the core promoter sequence and in other instances,this sequence may also include an enhancer sequence and other regulatoryelements which are required for expression of the gene product. Thepromoter/regulatory sequence may, for example, be one which expressesthe gene product in a tissue specific manner.

A “constitutive” promoter is a nucleotide sequence which, when operablylinked with a polynucleotide which encodes or specifies a gene product,causes the gene product to be produced in a living human cell under mostor all physiological conditions of the cell.

An “inducible” promoter is a nucleotide sequence which, when operablylinked with a polynucleotide which encodes or specifies a gene product,causes the gene product to be produced in a living human cellsubstantially only when an inducer which corresponds to the promoter ispresent in the cell.

A “tissue-specific” promoter is a nucleotide sequence which, whenoperably linked with a polynucleotide which encodes or specifies a geneproduct, causes the gene product to be produced in a living human cellsubstantially only if the cell is a cell of the tissue typecorresponding to the promoter.

A “polyadenylation sequence” is a polynucleotide sequence which directsthe addition of a poly A tail onto a transcribed messenger RNA sequence.

A “polynucleotide” means a single strand or parallel and anti-parallelstrands of a nucleic acid. Thus, a polynucleotide may be either asingle-stranded or a double-stranded nucleic acid.

The term “nucleic acid” typically refers to large polynucleotides.

The term “oligonucleotide” typically refers to short polynucleotides,generally, no greater than about 50 nucleotides. It will be understoodthat when a nucleotide sequence is represented by a DNA sequence (i.e.,A, T, G, C), this also includes an RNA sequence (i.e., A, U, G, C) inwhich “U” replaces “T.”

Conventional notation is used herein to describe polynucleotidesequences: the left-hand end of a single-stranded polynucleotidesequence is the 5′-end; the left-hand direction of a double-strandedpolynucleotide sequence is referred to as the 5′-direction.

The direction of 5′ to 3′ addition of nucleotides to nascent RNAtranscripts is referred to as the transcription direction. The DNAstrand having the same sequence as an mRNA is referred to as the “codingstrand”; sequences on the DNA strand which are located 5′ to a referencepoint on the DNA are referred to as “upstream sequences”; sequences onthe DNA strand which are 3′ to a reference point on the DNA are referredto as “downstream sequences.”

A “portion” of a polynucleotide means at least at least about twentysequential nucleotide residues of the polynucleotide. It is understoodthat a portion of a polynucleotide may include every nucleotide residueof the polynucleotide.

“Primer” refers to a polynucleotide that is capable of specificallyhybridizing to a designated polynucleotide template and providing apoint of initiation for synthesis of a complementary polynucleotide.Such synthesis occurs when the polynucleotide primer is placed underconditions in which synthesis is induced, i.e., in the presence ofnucleotides, a complementary polynucleotide template, and an agent forpolymerization such as DNA polymerase. A primer is typicallysingle-stranded, but may be double-stranded. Primers are typicallydeoxyribonucleic acids, but a wide variety of synthetic and naturallyoccurring primers are useful for many applications. A primer iscomplementary to the template to which it is designed to hybridize toserve as a site for the initiation of synthesis, but need not reflectthe exact sequence of the template. In such a case, specifichybridization of the primer to the template depends on the stringency ofthe hybridization conditions. Primers can be labeled with, e.g.,chromogenic, radioactive, or fluorescent moieties and used as detectablemoieties.

“Probe” refers to a polynucleotide that is capable of specificallyhybridizing to a designated sequence of another polynucleotide. A probespecifically hybridizes to a target complementary polynucleotide, butneed not reflect the exact complementary sequence of the template. Insuch a case, specific hybridization of the probe to the target dependson the stringency of the hybridization conditions. Probes can be labeledwith, e.g., chromogenic, radioactive, or fluorescent moieties and usedas detectable moieties.

“Recombinant polynucleotide” refers to a polynucleotide having sequencesthat are not naturally joined together. An amplified or assembledrecombinant polynucleotide may be included in a suitable vector, and thevector can be used to transform a suitable host cell.

A recombinant polynucleotide may serve a non-coding function (e.g.,promoter, origin of replication, ribosome-binding site, etc.) as well.

A “recombinant polypeptide” is one which is produced upon expression ofa recombinant polynucleotide.

“Polypeptide” refers to a polymer composed of amino acid residues,related naturally occurring structural variants, and syntheticnon-naturally occurring analogs thereof linked via peptide bonds,related naturally occurring structural variants, and syntheticnon-naturally occurring analogs thereof. Synthetic polypeptides can besynthesized, for example, using an automated polypeptide synthesizer.

The term “protein” typically refers to large polypeptides.

The term “peptide” typically refers to short polypeptides.

Conventional notation is used herein to portray polypeptide sequences:the left-hand end of a polypeptide sequence is the amino-terminus; theright-hand end of a polypeptide sequence is the carboxyl-terminus.

As used herein, the term “reporter gene” means a gene, the expression ofwhich can be detected using a known method. By way of example, theEscherichia coli lacZ gene may be used as a reporter gene in a mediumbecause expression of the lacZ gene can be detected using known methodsby adding the chromogenic substrate o-nitrophenyl-β-galactoside to themedium (Gerhardt et al., eds., 1994, Methods for General and MolecularBacteriology, American Society for Microbiology, Washington, D.C., p.574).

A “restriction site” is a portion of a double-stranded nucleic acidwhich is recognized by a restriction endonuclease.

A portion of a double-stranded nucleic acid is “recognized” by arestriction endonuclease if the endonuclease is capable of cleaving bothstrands of the nucleic acid at the portion when the nucleic acid and theendonuclease are contacted.

By the term “specifically binds,” as used herein, is meant a compound,e.g., a protein, a nucleic acid, an antibody, and the like, whichrecognizes and binds a specific molecule, but does not substantiallyrecognize or bind other molecules in a sample.

A first oligonucleotide anneals with a second oligonucleotide “with highstringency” if the two oligonucleotides anneal under conditions wherebyonly oligonucleotides which are at least about 73%, more preferably, atleast about 75%, even more preferably, at least about 80%, even morepreferably, at least about 85%, yet more preferably, at least about 90%,and most preferably, at least about 95%, complementary anneal with oneanother. The stringency of conditions used to anneal twooligonucleotides is a function of, among other factors, temperature,ionic strength of the annealing medium, the incubation period, thelength of the oligonucleotides, the G-C content of the oligonucleotides,and the expected degree of non-homology between the twooligonucleotides, if known. Methods of adjusting the stringency ofannealing conditions are known (see, e.g., Sambrook et al., 1989,Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory,New York).

As used herein, the term “transgene” means an exogenous nucleic, acidsequence which exogenous nucleic acid is encoded by a transgenic cell ormammal.

A “recombinant cell” is a cell that comprises a transgene. Such a cellmay be a eukaryotic cell or a prokaryotic cell. Also, the transgeniccell encompasses, but is not limited to, an embryonic stem cellcomprising the transgene, a cell obtained from a chimeric mammal derivedfrom a transgenic ES cell where the cell comprises the transgene, a cellobtained from a transgenic mammal, or fetal or placental tissue thereof,and a prokaryotic cell comprising the transgene.

By the term “exogenous nucleic acid” is meant that the nucleic acid hasbeen introduced into a cell or an animal using technology which has beendeveloped for the purpose of facilitating the introduction of a nucleicacid into a cell or an animal.

By “tag” polypeptide is meant any protein which, when linked by apeptide bond to a protein of interest, may be used to localize theprotein, to purify it from a cell extract, to immobilize it for use inbinding assays, or to otherwise study its biological properties and/orfunction.

As used herein, the term “transgenic mammal” means a mammal, the germcells of which comprise an exogenous nucleic acid.

As used herein, to “treat” means reducing the frequency with whichsymptoms of arterial restenosis, adventitial fibrosis, excessive orinsufficient wound healing responses, scarring, keloids, bone formation,fracture healing, and the like, are experienced by a patient.

By the term “vector” as used herein, is meant any plasmid or virusencoding an exogenous nucleic acid. The term should also be construed toinclude non-plasmid and non-viral compounds which facilitate transfer ofnucleic acid into virions or cells, such as, for example, polylysinecompounds and the like. The vector may be a viral vector which issuitable as a delivery vehicle for delivery of a nucleic acid thatinhibits expression of a Her-2 cleaving ADAM, to the patient, or thevector may be a non-viral vector which is suitable for the same purpose.

Examples of viral and non-viral vectors for delivery of DNA to cells andtissues are well known in the art and are described, for example, in Maet al. (1997, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 94:12744-12746). Examples ofviral vectors include, but are not limited to, a recombinant vacciniavirus, a recombinant adenovirus, a recombinant retrovirus, a recombinantadeno-associated virus, a recombinant avian pox virus, and the like(Cranage et al., 1986, EMBO J. 5:3057-3063; International PatentApplication No. WO94/17810, published Aug. 18, 1994; InternationalPatent Application No. WO94/23744, published Oct. 27, 1994). Examples ofnon-viral vectors include, but are not limited to, liposomes, polyaminederivatives of DNA, and the like.

A “Her-2 synergistic amount” is an amount of a compound (e.g., a Her-2antagonistic antibody, a Her-2 cleavage-inhibiting MPI, and the like)that when administered in concert with another such compound, reducesthe level of Her-2 mediated growth in a cell (as assessed, for instance,by measuring proliferation by the cell) to a detectably greater extentthan either compound administered to the cell in the absence of theother compound or to a detectably greater extent than the sum of theeffect observed with either compound alone.

“Her-2 cleavage” as the term is used herein, refers to the processwhereby the full-length Her-2 polypeptide (p185) is cleaved to produce ap105 ectodornain (ECD) and a p95 stub. Where the Her-2 is associatedwith a cell, the cleavage typically produces a p95 portion of the Her-2polypeptide that remains associated with the cell while the ECD isreleased (i.e., shed) to the extracellular milieu. The enzyme thatcleaves p185 to release an ECD, produce p95, or both, is referred toherein as “sheddase.” Cleavage of Her-2 can be in vitro or in vivo.

By the term “Her-2 overexpressing,” as the term is used herein, is meantthat a cell associated with a disease, disorder or condition comprises adetectably higher level of Her-2 than an otherwise identical cell thatis not associated with a disease, disorder or condition.

A “therapeutic” treatment is a treatment administered to a subject whoexhibits signs of pathology for the purpose of diminishing oreliminating those signs and/or decreasing or diminishing the frequency,duration and intensity of the signs.

An “effective amount” of a compound is that amount of compound which issufficient to provide a detectable effect to a cell to which thecompound is administered when compared to an otherwise identical cell towhich the compound is not administered.

By the term “an inhibitor of an epidermal growth factor receptortyrosine kinase family member,” as used herein, is meant any compound ormolecule that detectably inhibits signaling via an EGFR tyrosine kinasefamily member. Such compounds include an antagonist, an inverse agonist,and the like, including, but not limited to, a Her-2 antagonisticantibody (e.g., Herceptin™), a small molecule inhibitor (e.g., Iressa™),a nucleic acid (e.g., antisense) that inhibits function, expression, andthe like, of an EGFR tyrosine kinase family member, among other things.

An “epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase family member”means any receptor which can be classified as a member of the familybased on its homology, function, and/or specificity of a ligand thatbinds therewith, with a known member of the EGFR family, such familymember including, but not being limited to, EGFR-1 (i.e., Her-1), Her-2,Her-3, and Her-4, among others.

By the term “specifically binds,” as used herein, is meant an antibodywhich recognizes and binds with an EGFR tyrosine kinase family proteinpresent in a sample, but which antibody does not substantially recognizeor bind other molecules in the sample.

A “suboptimal concentration” of compound is that amount of compoundwhich is sufficient to provide a detectable effect to a cell to whichthe compound is administered when compared to an otherwise identicalcell to which compound is not administered. This effect is less than canbe maximally achieved with the same compound under identical conditions,but where the concentration of the compound administered is greater thanthat which mediates the detectable, but lesser, effect.

A “receptor” is a protein that specifically binds with a ligand.

To “treat” a disease as the term is used herein, means to reduce thefrequency of the disease or disorder reducing the frequency with which asymptom of the one or more symptoms disease or disorder is experiencedby an animal.

By the term “sheddase”, as used herein, is meant a protein thatspecifically cleaves a Her-2 to produce an ectodomain portion that isshed from the cell and, more importantly, a p95 “stub” portion thatremains associated with the cell. As demonstrated herein, ADAM10 andADAM15, are sheddases as defined herein.

As used herein, the term “cancer,” also medically termed “malignantneoplasm” is meant to refer to a disease characterized by uncontrolledcell proliferation where cancerous cells have lost their normalregulatory controls that would otherwise govern the rate of cell growth.These unregulated, dividing cells can spread throughout the body andinvade normal tissues in a process referred to as “metastasis”.

As used herein, the term “tumor,” also medically termed “neoplasia,”refers to a mass of uncontrollably dividing cells. In some embodiments,a tumor can be benign (non-invasive) or malignant (invasive). Amalignant tumor is often, but not always, characteristic of cancer.

I. Isolated Nucleic Acids

The present invention includes an isolated nucleic acid encoding amammalian ADAM15 variant, or a fragment thereof; wherein the nucleicacid encodes a variant of mammalian ADAM15, and where the nucleic acidshares at least about 90% identity with at least one nucleic acid havingthe sequence of SEQ ID NO:1 (human ADAM15 variant 1) and SEQ ID NO:3(human ADAM15 variant 2). Preferably, the nucleic acid is about 95%homologous, and most preferably, about 99% homologous to at least one ofSEQ ID NO:1 and SEQ ID NO:3, disclosed herein. Even more preferably, thenucleic acid is at least one of SEQ ID NO:1 and SEQ ID NO:3.

The present invention includes an isolated nucleic acid encodingmammalian ADAM15 variant, or a fragment thereof, wherein the nucleicacid shares greater than about 90% homology with SEQ ID NO:1.Preferably, the nucleic acid is about 95% homologous, and mostpreferably, about 99% homologous to the human ADAM15 variant 1 disclosedherein, SEQ ID NO:1. Even more preferably, the nucleic acid is SEQ IDNO:1.

The present invention includes an isolated nucleic acid encodingmammalian ADAM15 variant, or a fragment thereof, wherein the nucleicacid shares greater than about 90% homology with SEQ ID NO:3 (humanADAM15 variant 2). Preferably, the nucleic acid is about 95% homologous,and most preferably, about 99% homologous to the human ADAM15 variant 2disclosed herein, SEQ ID NO:3. Even more preferably, the nucleic acid isSEQ ID NO:3.

In another aspect, the present invention includes an isolated nucleicacid encoding a mammalian ADAM15 variant, or a fragment thereof, whereinthe protein encoded by the nucleic acid shares greater than about 90%homology with the amino acid sequence of at least one of SEQ ID NO:2 andSEQ ID NO:4. Preferably, the nucleic acid is about 95% homologous, mostpreferably, about 99% homologous to at least one of SEQ ID NO:2 and SEQID NO:4. Even more preferably, the mammalian ADAM15 variant proteinencoded by the nucleic acid is at least one of SEQ ID NO:2 and SEQ IDNO:4.

In another aspect, the present invention includes an isolated nucleicacid encoding a mammalian ADAM15 variant, or a fragment thereof; whereinthe protein encoded by the nucleic acid shares greater than about 90%homology with the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:2 (human ADAM15variant 1). Preferably, the protein encoded by the nucleic acid is about95% homologous, and most preferably, about 99% homologous to the humanADAM15 variant 1 disclosed herein, SEQ ID NO:2. Even more preferably,the human ADAM15 variant 1 protein encoded by the nucleic acid is SEQ IDNO:2.

In another aspect, the present invention includes an isolated nucleicacid encoding a mammalian ADAM15 variant, or a fragment thereof, whereinthe protein encoded by the nucleic acid shares greater than about 90%homology with the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:4. Preferably, theprotein encoded by the nucleic acid is about 95% homologous, and mostpreferably, about 99% homologous to the human ADAM15 variant 2 disclosedherein, SEQ ID NO:4. Even more preferably, the human ADAM15 variant 2protein encoded by the nucleic acid is SEQ ID NO:4.

One skilled in the art would appreciate, based upon the disclosureprovided herein, that other ADAM15 variant homologs likely exist inother species and can be readily identified and isolated using themethods described herein using the sequence data disclosed hereinregarding the two human splice variants. Thus, the present inventionencompasses additional ADAM15 variants that can be readily identifiedbased upon the disclosure provided herein but not including any mousevariants known previously in the art.

The isolated nucleic acid of the invention should be construed toinclude an RNA or a DNA sequence encoding a human ADAM15 variant proteinof the invention, and any modified forms thereof, including chemicalmodifications of the DNA or RNA which render the nucleotide sequencemore stable when it is cell free or when it is associated with a cell.Chemical modifications of nucleotides may also be used to enhance theefficiency with which a nucleotide sequence is taken up by a cell or theefficiency with which it is expressed in a cell. Any and allcombinations of modifications of the nucleotide sequences arecontemplated in the present invention.

The present invention should not be construed as being limited solely tothe nucleic and amino acid sequences disclosed herein. Once armed withthe present invention, it is readily apparent to one skilled in the artthat other nucleic acids encoding ADAM15 variant proteins can such asthose present in other species of mammals (e.g., ape, gibbon, bovine,ovine, equine, porcine, canine, feline, and the like, but not includingmouse) be obtained by using the sequence information disclosed hereinfor human ADAM15 variant nucleic acids encoding human ADAM15 variantpolypeptides as disclosed herein as would be understood by one skilledin the art. Methods for isolating a nucleic acid based on a knownsequence are well-known in the art (e.g., screening of genomic or cDNAlibraries), and are not described herein.

Further, any number of procedures may be used for the generation ofmutant, derivative or variant forms of a human ADAM15 variant usingrecombinant DNA methodology well known in the art. A wide plethora oftechniques is available to the skilled artisan to produce muteins ofinterest and to select those with desired properties.

Techniques to introduce random mutations into DNA sequences are wellknown in the art, and include PCR mutagenesis, saturation mutagenesis,and degenerate oligonucleotide approaches. See Sambrook and Russell(2001, Molecular Cloning, A Laboratory Approach, Cold Spring HarborPress, Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y.) and Ausubel et al. (2002, CurrentProtocols in Molecular Biology, John Wiley & Sons, NY).

The invention includes a nucleic acid encoding a human ADAM15 variantwherein the nucleic acid encoding a tag polypeptide is covalently linkedthereto. That is, the invention encompasses a chimeric nucleic acidwherein the nucleic acid sequences encoding a tag polypeptide iscovalently linked to the nucleic acid encoding at least one of humanADAM15 variant 1 and human ADAM15 variant 2. Such tag polypeptides arewell known in the art and include, for instance, green fluorescentprotein (GFP), myc, myc-pyruvate kinase (myc-PK), His₆, maltose bidingprotein (MBP), an influenza virus hemagglutinin tag polypeptide, a flagtag polypeptide (FLAG), and a glutathione-S-transferase (GST) tagpolypeptide. However, the invention should in no way be construed to belimited to the nucleic acids encoding the above-listed tag polypeptides.Rather, any nucleic acid sequence encoding a polypeptide which mayfunction in a manner substantially similar to these tag polypeptidesshould be construed to be included in the present invention.

The nucleic acid comprising a nucleic acid encoding a tag polypeptidecan be used to localize a human ADAM15 variant within a cell, a tissue,and/or a whole organism (e.g., a mammalian embryo), and to study therole(s) of a human ADAM15 variant in a cell or animal. Further, additionof a tag polypeptide facilitates isolation and purification of the“tagged” protein such that the proteins of the invention can be producedand purified readily.

II. Isolated Polypeptides

The invention also includes an isolated polypeptide comprising a humanADAM15 variant molecule. Preferably, the isolated polypeptide comprisinga human ADAM15 variant molecule is greater than about 90% homologous toa polypeptide having the amino acid sequence of at least one of SEQ IDNO:2 and SEQ ID NO:4. The skilled artisan would understand, based uponthe disclosure provided herein, that the polypeptide of the inventiondoes not include any mouse ADAM15 variant described previously.Preferably, the isolated polypeptide is about 90% homologous, morepreferably, about 95% homologous, and most preferably, about 99%homologous to at least one of SEQ ID NO:2 and SEQ ID NO:4. Morepreferably, the isolated polypeptide comprising a human ADAM15 variantis at least one of human ADAM15 variant 1 and human ADAM15 variant 2.Most preferably, the isolated polypeptide comprising a mammalian ADAM15variant is at least one of SEQ ID NO:2 and SEQ ID NO:4.

The invention also includes an isolated polypeptide comprising a humanADAM15 variant molecule. Preferably, the isolated polypeptide comprisinga human ADAM15 variant is greater than about 90% homologous to apolypeptide having the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:2. Morepreferably, the isolated polypeptide comprising a human ADAM15 variantis at least about 95% homologous, and more preferably, at least about99% homologous to human ADAM15 variant 1. More preferably, the isolatedpolypeptide comprising a human ADAM15 variant molecule is human ADAM15variant 1. Most preferably, the isolated polypeptide comprising a humanADAM15 variant molecule is SEQ ID NO:2.

The invention also includes an isolated polypeptide comprising a humanADAM15 variant wherein, preferably, the isolated polypeptide comprisinga human ADAM15 variant is greater than about 90% homologous to apolypeptide having the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:4. Morepreferably, the isolated polypeptide comprising a human ADAM15 variantis at least about 95% homologous, and more preferably, at least about99% homologous to human ADAM15 variant 2. More preferably, the isolatedpolypeptide comprising a human ADAM15 variant is human ADAM15 variant 2.Most preferably, the isolated polypeptide comprising a human ADAM14variant molecule is SEQ ID NO:4.

The present invention also provides for analogs of proteins or peptideswhich comprise a mammalian ADAM15 variant molecule as disclosed herein.Analogs may differ from naturally occurring proteins or peptides byconservative amino acid sequence differences or by modifications whichdo not affect sequence, or by both. For example, conservative amino acidchanges may be made, which although they alter the primary sequence ofthe protein or peptide, do not normally alter its function. Conservativeamino acid substitutions typically include substitutions within thefollowing groups:

-   -   glycine, alanine;    -   valine, isoleucine, leucine;    -   aspartic acid, glutamic acid;    -   asparagine, glutamine;    -   serine, threonine;    -   lysine, arginine;    -   phenylalanine, tyrosine.        Modifications (which do not normally alter primary sequence)        include in vivo, or in vitro, chemical derivatization of        polypeptides, e.g., acetylation, or carboxylation. Also included        are modifications of glycosylation, e.g., those made by        modifying the glycosylation patterns of a polypeptide during its        synthesis and processing or in further processing steps; e.g.,        by exposing the polypeptide to enzymes which affect        glycosylation, e.g., mammalian glycosylating or deglycosylating        enzymes. Also embraced are sequences which have phosphorylated        amino acid residues, e.g., phosphotyrosine, phosphoserine, or        phosphothreonine.

Also included are polypeptides which have been modified using ordinarymolecular biological techniques so as to improve their resistance toproteolytic degradation or to optimize solubility properties or torender them more suitable as a therapeutic agent. Analogs of suchpolypeptides include those containing residues other than naturallyoccurring L-amino acids, e.g., D-amino acids or non-naturally occurringsynthetic amino acids. The peptides of the invention are not limited toproducts of any of the specific exemplary processes listed herein.

The present invention should also be construed to encompass “mutants,”“derivatives,” and “variants” of the peptides of the invention (or ofthe DNA encoding the same) which mutants, derivatives and variants areADAM15 peptides which are altered in one or more amino acids (or, whenreferring to the nucleotide sequence encoding the same, are altered inone or more base pairs) such that the resulting peptide (or DNA) is notidentical to the sequences recited herein, but has the same biologicalproperty as the ADAM15 variant peptides disclosed herein, in that thepeptide has biological/biochemical properties of the ADAM15 variantpeptide of the present invention (e.g., it can specifically cleave Her-2to produce, inter alia, a p95 Her-2 portion).

The skilled artisan would understand, based upon the disclosure providedherein, that ADAM15 biological activity encompasses, but is not limitedto, the ability of a molecule to specifically cleave Her-2 to produce anectodomain portion (p105) and a p95 stub portion, and the like.

Further, the invention should be construed to include naturallyoccurring variants or recombinantly derived mutants of ADAM15 variantsequences, which variants or mutants render the protein encoded therebyeither more, less, or just as biologically active as the full-lengthclones of the invention.

The nucleic acids, and peptides encoded thereby, are useful tools forelucidating the function(s) of ADAM15 molecule in a cell. Further,nucleic and amino acids comprising a mammalian ADAM15 variant moleculeare useful diagnostics which can be used, for example, to identify acompound that affects ADAM15 variant function or expression, whichcompound is a potential drug candidate for a disease, disorder orcondition associated with, or mediated by, cleavage of Her-2 to producea p95 portion of Her-2. The nucleic acids, the proteins encoded thereby,or both, can be administered to a cell, tissue, or mammal to increase ordecrease expression or function of ADAM15, or a variant thereof,including, but not limited to, variant 1 and 2 as disclosed herein, inthe cell, tissue or mammal to which it is administered. This can bebeneficial for the cell, tissue, and/or mammal in situations where underor over-expression of ADAM15, or variant thereof, in the cell, tissue ormammal mediates a disease or condition associated with cleavage of Her-2to produce p95.

That is, the data disclosed herein demonstrate that cleavage of Her-2 byp95 is associated with certain diseases, disorders or conditions. Evenmore importantly, the data disclosed herein demonstrate that inhibitionof such cleavage can provide a therapeutic benefit. Also, the datadisclosed herein demonstrate for the first time that ADAM10, and ADAM15are responsible, at least in part, for the cleavage of Her-2 to releasep105 ectodomain and to produce cell-associated p95. Thus, these ADAMmolecules are important targets for the production of potentialtherapeutics. Further, the data suggest that a variant of ADAM15,variant 1, is preferentially associated with Her-2 cleavage in cellsthat shed p105 and produce p95. Thus, ADAM15, and variants thereof, evenmore preferably, variants 1 and 2 disclosed herein, are importantpotential therapeutic targets.

Additionally, the nucleic and amino acids of the invention can be usedto produce recombinant cells and transgenic non-human mammals which areuseful tools for the study of ADAM15 action, and the study of the actionof the various variants thereof (e.g., variant 1 and variant 2, and thelike), the identification of novel diagnostics and therapeutics fortreatment of diseases, disorders or conditions associated with, ormediated by, cleavage of Her-2, including, but not limited to, certaincancers, among other things. Further, the nucleic and amino acids of theinvention can be used diagnostically, either by assessing the level ofgene expression or protein expression, to assess severity, metastasis,and prognosis of certain cancers. The nucleic acids and proteins of theinvention are also useful in the development of assays to assess theefficacy of a treatment for diseases or disorders associated with, orcharacterized by, cleavage of Her-2. That is, the nucleic acids andpolypeptides of the invention can be used to detect the effect ofvarious therapies on ADAM15 molecule, or variant thereof, expression,thereby ascertaining the effectiveness of the therapies. Thereby, thenucleic acids and proteins of the present invention can provide usefuldiagnostic tools for, among other things, cancer.

III. Vectors

In other related aspects, the invention includes an isolated nucleicacid encoding a mammalian ADAM15 variant operably linked to a nucleicacid comprising a promoter/regulatory sequence such that the nucleicacid is preferably capable of directing expression of the proteinencoded by the nucleic acid. Thus, the invention encompasses expressionvectors and methods for the introduction of exogenous DNA into cellswith concomitant expression of the exogenous DNA in the cells such asthose described, for example, in Sambrook et al. (1989, MolecularCloning: A Laboratory Manual, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, New York),and in Ausubel et al. (1997, Current Protocols in Molecular Biology,John Wiley & Sons, New York).

Expression of an ADAM15 variant, either alone or fused to a detectabletag polypeptide, in cells which either do not normally express theADAM15 variant, or which do not express ADAM15 variant fused with a tagpolypeptide, can be accomplished by generating a plasmid, viral, orother type of vector comprising the desired nucleic acid operably linkedto a promoter/regulatory sequence which serves to drive expression ofthe protein, with or without tag, in cells in which the vector isintroduced. Many promoter/regulatory sequences useful for drivingconstitutive expression of a gene are available in the art and include,but are not limited to, for example, the cytomegalovirus immediate earlypromoter enhancer sequence, the SV40 early promoter, as well as the Roussarcoma virus promoter, and the like.

Moreover, inducible and tissue specific expression of the nucleic acidencoding WNK may be accomplished by placing the nucleic acid encodingWNK, with or without a tag, under the control of an inducible or tissuespecific promoter/regulatory sequence. Examples of tissue specific orinducible promoter/regulatory sequences which are useful for his purposeinclude, but are not limited to the MMTV LTR inducible promoter, and theSV40 late enhancer/promoter. In addition, promoters which are well knownin the art which are induced in response to inducing agents such asmetals, glucocorticoids, and the like, are also contemplated in theinvention. Thus, it will be appreciated that the invention includes theuse of any promoter/regulatory sequence, which is either known orunknown, and which is capable of driving expression of the desiredprotein operably linked thereto.

Expressing ADAM15 variant using a vector allows the isolation of largeamounts of recombinantly produced protein. Further, where a decreasedlevel of ADAM15 variant expression or function results in a disease,disorder, or condition associated with such expression, the expressionof ADAM15 variant driven by a promoter/regulatory sequence can provideuseful therapeutics including, but not limited to, gene therapy wherebyADAM15 variant is provided. That is, based upon the disclosure providedherein, the skilled artisan would appreciate that there are situationsand/or conditions where it is desirable to increase ADAM15 expressionand/or function, and the nucleic acid vectors of the present inventionprovide a method for thus providing ADAM15 variant expression and/orfunction to a cell, tissue or mammal in need thereof where it wouldprovide a therapeutic benefic understood by one skilled in the art basedupon the teaching provided herein.

Therefore, the invention includes not only methods of inhibiting ADAM15variant expression, translation, and/or activity, but it also includesmethods relating to increasing ADAM15 variant expression, protein level,and/or activity since both decreasing and increasing ADAM15 variantexpression and/or activity can be useful in providing effectivetherapeutics.

Selection of any particular plasmid vector or other DNA vector is not alimiting factor in this invention and a wide variety of vectors iswell-known in the art. Further, it is well within the skill of theartisan to choose particular promoter/regulatory sequences and operablylink those promoter/regulatory sequences to a DNA sequence encoding adesired polypeptide. Such technology is well known in the art and isdescribed, for example, in Sambrook et al. (1989, Molecular Cloning: ALaboratory Manual, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, New York), and inAusubel et al. (1997, Current Protocols in Molecular Biology, John Wiley& Sons, New York).

The invention thus includes a vector comprising an isolated nucleic acidencoding a mammalian ADAM15 variant. The incorporation of a desirednucleic acid into a vector and the choice of vectors is well-known inthe art as described in, for example, Sambrook et al. (1989, MolecularCloning: A Laboratory Manual, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, New York),and in Ausubel et al. (1997, Current Protocols in Molecular Biology,John Wiley & Sons, New York).

The invention also includes cells, viruses, proviruses, and the like,containing such vectors. Methods for producing cells comprising vectorsand/or exogenous nucleic acids are well-known in the art, and isdetailed in, for example, Sambrook et al. (1989, Molecular Cloning: ALaboratory Manual, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, New York), and inAusubel et al. (1997, Current Protocols in Molecular Biology, John Wiley& Sons, New York).

The nucleic acids encoding ADAM15 variant may be cloned into variousplasmid vectors. However, the present invention should not be construedto be limited to plasmids or to any particular vector. Instead, thepresent invention should be construed to encompass a wide plethora ofvectors which are readily available and/or well-known in the art.

IV. Recombinant Cell

The invention includes a recombinant cell comprising, inter alia, anisolated nucleic acid encoding ADAM15 variant, an antisense nucleic acidcomplementary thereto, a nucleic acid encoding an antibody thatspecifically binds ADAM15 variant, and the like. In one aspect, therecombinant cell can be transiently transfected with a plasmid encodinga portion of the nucleic acid encoding ADAM15 variant. The nucleic acidneed not be integrated into the cell genome nor does it need to beexpressed in the cell. Moreover, the cell may be a prokaryotic or aeukaryotic cell and the invention should not be construed to be limitedto any particular cell line or cell type. Such cells include, but arenot limited to, kidney cells, and the like.

The invention should be construed to include any cell type into which anucleic acid encoding a mammalian ADAM15 variant (a transgene) isintroduced, including, without limitation, a prokaryotic cell and aeukaryotic cell comprising an isolated nucleic acid encoding mammalianADAM15 variant.

The invention also encompasses a recombinant cell where an endogenoustarget nucleic acid ADAM15 variant is activated by introduction of anexogenous activating nucleic acid into the cell such that the endogenoustarget nucleic acid is expressed and/or the ADAM15 variant protein isproduced. Such techniques of gene activation are well-known in the artand are described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,270,989, among manyothers.

When the cell is a eukaryotic cell, the cell may be any eukaryotic cellwhich, when the transgene of the invention is introduced therein, andthe protein encoded by the desired gene is no longer expressedtherefrom, a benefit is obtained. Such a benefit may include the factthat there has been provided a system in which lack of expression of thedesired gene can be studied in vitro in the laboratory or in a mammal inwhich the cell resides, a system wherein cells comprising the introducedgene deletion can be used as research, diagnostic and therapeutic tools,and a system wherein animal models are generated which are useful forthe development of new diagnostic and therapeutic tools for selecteddisease states in a mammal including, for example, cancer, or any otherdisease, disorder or condition mediated by ADAM15 cleavage of Her-2, andthe like.

Alternatively, the invention includes a eukaryotic cell which, when thetransgene of the invention is introduced therein, and the proteinencoded by the desired gene is expressed therefrom where it was notpreviously present or expressed in the cell or where it is now expressedat a level or under circumstances different than that before thetransgene was introduced, a benefit is obtained. Such a benefit mayinclude the fact that there has been provided a system in the expressionof the desired gene can be studied in vitro in the laboratory or in amammal in which the cell resides, a system wherein cells comprising theintroduced gene can be used as research, diagnostic and therapeutictools, and a system wherein animal models are generated which are usefulfor the development of new diagnostic and therapeutic tools for selecteddisease states in a mammal.

Such cell expressing an isolated nucleic acid encoding ADAM15 variantcan be used to provide ADAM15 variant, to a cell, tissue, or wholeanimal where a higher level of ADAM15 variant can be useful to treat oralleviate a disease, disorder or condition associated with low level ofADAM15 variant expression and/or activity. Therefore, the inventionincludes a cell expressing ADAM15 variant (variant 1, variant 2, orboth) to increase or induce ADAM15 variant expression, translation,and/or activity, where increasing ADAM15 variant expression, proteinlevel, and/or activity can be useful to treat or alleviate a disease,disorder or condition, since increasing ADAM15 variant also increasescleavage of Her-2 to produce p95.

One of ordinary skill would appreciate, based upon the disclosureprovided herein, that a “knock-in” or “knock-out” vector of theinvention comprises at least two sequences homologous to two portions ofthe nucleic acid which is to be replaced or deleted, respectively. Thetwo sequences are homologous with sequences that flank the gene; thatis, one sequence is homologous with a region at or near the 5′ portionof the coding sequence of the nucleic acid encoding WNK and the othersequence is further downstream from the first. One skilled in the artwould appreciate, based upon the disclosure provided herein, that thepresent invention is not limited to any specific flanking nucleic acidsequences. Instead, the targeting vector may comprise two sequenceswhich remove some or all (i.e., a “knock-out” vector) or which insert(i.e., a “knock-in” vector) a nucleic acid encoding ADAM15 variant, or afragment thereof, from or into a mammalian genome, respectively. Thecrucial feature of the targeting vector is that it comprise sufficientportions of two sequences located towards opposite, i.e., 5′ and 3′,ends of the ADAM15 variant open reading frames (ORF) in the case of a“knock-out” vector, to allow deletion/insertion by homologousrecombination to occur such that all or a portion of the nucleic acidencoding ADAM15 variant is deleted from or inserted into a location on amammalian chromosome.

The design of transgenes and knock-in and knock-out targeting vectors iswell-known in the art and is described in standard treatises such asSambrook et al. (1989, Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual, ColdSpring Harbor Laboratory, New York), and in Ausubel et al. (1997,Current Protocols in Molecular Biology, John Wiley & Sons, New York),and the like. The upstream and downstream portions flanking or withinthe ADAM15 variant coding region to be used in the targeting vector maybe easily selected based upon known methods and following the teachingsdisclosed herein based on the disclosure provided herein including thenucleic and amino acid sequences of both variants of human ADAM15variant 1 and variant 2. Armed with these sequences, one of ordinaryskill in the art would be able to construct the transgenes and knock-outvectors of the invention.

The invention further includes a knock-out targeting vector comprising anucleic acid encoding a selectable marker such as, for example, anucleic acid encoding the neo^(R) gene thereby allowing the selection oftransgenic a cell where the nucleic acid encoding ADAM15 variant, or aportion thereof, has been deleted and replaced with the neomycinresistance gene by the cell's ability to grow in the presence of G418.However, the present invention should not be construed to be limited toneomycin resistance as a selectable marker. Rather, other selectablemarkers well-known in the art may be used in the knock-out targetingvector to allow selection of recombinant cells where the ADAM15 variantgene has been deleted and/or inactivated and replaced by the nucleicacid encoding the selectable marker of choice. Methods of selecting andincorporating a selectable marker into a vector are well-known in theart and are described in, for example, Sambrook et al. (1989, MolecularCloning: A Laboratory Manual, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, New York),and in Ausubel et al. (1997, Current Protocols in Molecular Biology,John Wiley & Sons, New York).

One skilled in the art would appreciate, based upon this disclosure,that cells comprising decreased levels of ADAM15 variant protein,decreased level of ADAM15 variant activity, or both, include, but arenot limited to, cells expressing inhibitors of ADAM15 variant expression(e.g., antisense or ribozyme molecules).

Methods and compositions useful for maintaining mammalian cells inculture are well known in the art, wherein the mammalian cells areobtained from a mammal including, but not limited to, a rat and a human.

The recombinant cell of the invention can be used to study the effect ofqualitative and quantitative alterations in ADAM15 variant levels on acell, including the effect of decreased cleavage of Her-2 in a cellexpressing Her-2. This is because the fact that ADAM15, and variantsthereof, have now been demonstrate to mediate cleavage of Her-2 toproduce p95, wherein p95 is associated with, or mediates, altered cellgrowth and/or proliferation and is correlated with, among other things,metastasis of certain cancers. Further, the recombinant cell can be usedto produce ADAM15 variant for use for therapeutic and/or diagnosticpurposes. That is, a recombinant cell expressing ADAM15 variant can beused to produce large amounts of purified and isolated ADAM15 variantthat can be administered to treat or alleviate a disease, disorder orcondition associated with or caused by an increased or inappropriatelevel of ADAM15 variant.

Alternatively, recombinant cells expressing ADAM15 variant can beadministered in ex vivo and in vivo therapies where administering therecombinant cells thereby administers the protein to a cell, a tissue,and/or an animal. Additionally, the recombinant cells are useful for thediscovery of processes affected and/or mediated by ADAM15 variants.Thus, the recombinant cell of the invention may be used to study theeffects of elevated or decreased ADAM15 variant levels on a cell, andthe like.

The recombinant cell of the invention, wherein the cell has beenengineered such that it does not express ADAM15 variant, or expressesreduced or altered ADAM15 variant lacking biological activity, can alsobe used in ex vivo and in vivo cell therapies where either an animal'sown cells (e.g., kidney cells, and the like) or those of a syngeneicmatched donor, are recombinantly engineered as described elsewhereherein (e.g., by insertion of an antisense nucleic acid, an siRNA, or aknock-out vector such that ADAM15 variant expression and/or proteinlevels are thereby reduced in the recombinant cell), and the recombinantcell is administered to the recipient animal. In this way, recombinantcells that express ADAM15 variant at a reduced level can be administeredto an animal whose own cells express increased levels of ADAM15 variantthereby treating or alleviating a disease, disorder or conditionassociated with or mediated by increased ADAM15 variant expression asdisclosed elsewhere herein, including, but not limited to, a disease,disorder or condition associated with, or mediated by, cleavage of Her-2to produce p95 by ADAM15, or a variant thereof (e.g., ADAM15 variant 1and variant 2, among others).

V. Antibodies

The invention also includes an antibody that specifically binds ADAM15variant, or a fragment thereof.

One skilled in the art would understand, based upon the disclosureprovided herein, that an antibody that specifically binds ADAM15variant, binds with a protein of the invention, such as, but not limitedto human ADAM15 variant 1, variant 2, or an immunogenic portion thereof.In one embodiment, the antibody is directed to: human ADAM15 variant 1,comprising the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:2, and human ADAM15variant 2, comprising the amino acid sequence SEQ ID NO:4.

Polyclonal antibodies are generated by immunizing rabbits according tostandard immunological techniques well-known in the art (see, e.g.,Harlow et al., 1988, In: Antibodies, A Laboratory Manual, Cold SpringHarbor, N.Y.; and Wilson et al., 2001, Science 293: 1107-1112). Suchtechniques include immunizing an animal with a chimeric proteincomprising a portion of another protein such as a maltose bindingprotein or glutathione (GSH) tag polypeptide portion, and/or a moietysuch that the ADAM15 variant portion is rendered immunogenic (e.g.,ADAM15 variant conjugated with keyhole limpet hemocyanin, KLH) and aportion comprising the respective ADAM15 variant amino acid residues.The chimeric proteins are produced by cloning the appropriate nucleicacids encoding ADAM15 variant (e.g., SEQ ID NO:1 and SEQ ID NO:2) into aplasmid vector suitable for this purpose, such as but not limited to,pMAL-2 or pCMX.

However, the invention should not be construed as being limited solelyto these antibodies or to these portions of the protein antigens.Rather, the invention should be construed to include other antibodies,as that term is defined elsewhere herein, to human ADAM15 variant, orportions thereof. Further, the present invention should be construed toencompass antibodies, inter alia, that bind to ADAM15 variant and theyare able to bind ADAM15 variant present on Western blots, inimmunohistochemical staining of tissues thereby localizing ADAM15variant in the tissues, and in immunofluorescence microscopy of a celltransiently transfected with a nucleic acid encoding at least a portionof ADAM15 variant.

One skilled in the art would appreciate, based upon the disclosureprovided herein, that the antibody can specifically bind with anyportion of the protein and the full-length protein can be used togenerate antibodies specific therefor. However, the present invention isnot limited to using the full-length protein as an immunogen. Rather,the present invention includes using an immunogenic portion of theprotein to produce an antibody that specifically binds with mammalianADAM15 variant. That is, the invention includes immunizing an animalusing an immunogenic portion, or antigenic determinant, of the ADAM15variant protein.

The antibodies can be produced by immunizing an animal such as, but notlimited to, a rabbit or a mouse, with a protein of the invention, or aportion thereof, or by immunizing an animal using a protein comprisingat least a portion of ADAM15 variant protein, or a fusion proteinincluding a tag polypeptide portion comprising, for example, a maltosebinding protein tag polypeptide portion, covalently linked with aportion comprising the appropriate ADAM15 variant amino acid residues.One skilled in the art would appreciate, based upon the disclosureprovided herein, that smaller fragments of these proteins can also beused to produce antibodies that specifically bind an ADAM15 variant.

One skilled in the art would appreciate, based upon the disclosureprovided herein, that various portions of an isolated ADAM15 variantpolypeptide can be used to generate antibodies to either conservedregions of ADAM15 variant or to non-conserved regions of thepolypeptide. As disclosed elsewhere herein, ADAM15 comprises variousconserved domains.

Once armed with the sequence of WNK and the detailed analysis localizingthe various conserved and non-conserved domains of the protein, theskilled artisan would understand, based upon the disclosure providedherein, how to obtain antibodies specific for the various portions of amammalian ADAM15 polypeptide using methods well-known in the art or tobe developed.

Further, the skilled artisan, based upon the disclosure provided herein,would appreciate that the non-conserved regions of a protein of interestcan be more immunogenic than the highly conserved regions which areconserved among various organisms. Further, immunization using anon-conserved immunogenic portion can produce antibodies specific forthe non-conserved region thereby producing antibodies that do notcross-react with other proteins which can share one or more conservedportions. Thus, one skilled in the art would appreciate, based upon thedisclosure provided herein, that the non-conserved regions of eachADAM15 molecule can be used to produce antibodies that are specific onlyfor that ADAM15 and do not cross-react non-specifically with otherADAM15s or with other proteins. More specifically, the skilled artisan,once armed with the teachings provided herein, would readily appreciatethat antibodies can be produced that react with ADAM15 variant 1, butnot with variant 2, and vice-a-versa.

Alternatively, the skilled artisan would also understand, based upon thedisclosure provided herein, that antibodies developed using a regionthat is conserved among one or more ADAM15 molecules can be used toproduce antibodies that react specifically with one or more ADAM15molecule(s). That is, once armed with the sequences disclosed herein,one skilled in the art could readily prepare, using methods well-knownin the art, antibodies that specifically bind with ADAM15 variant 1 andwith ADAM15 variant 2. Methods for producing antibodies thatspecifically bind with a conserved protein domain which may otherwise beless immunogenic than other portions of the protein are well-known inthe art and have been discussed previously, and include, but are notlimited to, conjugating the protein fragment of interest to a molecule(e.g., keyhole limpet hemocyanin, and the like), thereby rendering theprotein domain immunogenic, or by the use of adjuvants (e.g., Freund'scomplete and/or incomplete adjuvant, and the like), or both. Thus, theinvention encompasses antibodies that recognize at least one ADAM15variant and antibodies that specifically bind with more than one ADAM15variant, including antibodies that specifically bind with all ADAM15variants of the invention.

One skilled in the art would appreciate, based upon the disclosureprovided herein, which portions of ADAM15 variant are less homologouswith other proteins sharing conserved domains. However, the presentinvention is not limited to any particular domain; instead, the skilledartisan would understand that other non-conserved regions of the ADAM15variant proteins of the invention can be used to produce the antibodiesof the invention as disclosed herein.

Therefore, the skilled artisan would appreciate, based upon thedisclosure provided herein, that the present invention encompassesantibodies that neutralize and/or inhibit ADAM15 variant activity (e.g.,by inhibiting necessary ADAM15 variant/Her-2 protein/proteininteractions) which antibodies can recognize one or more ADAM15variants, including, but not limited to, human ADAM15 variant 1, ADAM15variant 2, as well as ADAM15s from various species (e.g., mouse,non-human primates).

One skilled in the art would also understand, based upon the disclosureprovided herein, that it may be advantageous to inhibit the activityand/or expression of one type of ADAM15 variant molecule withoutaffecting the activity and/or expression of other ADAM15 variants orother ADAM15 molecules. For example, it may be beneficial to inhibitADAM15 variant 1 expression, while not inhibiting the expression and/oractivity of ADAM15 variant 2, or another ADAM15, in other tissues wherethe existing level of ADAM15 variant 2, or other ADAM15, in the theseother tissues is necessary for continued proper functioning of cellularprocesses in that tissue. Thus, whether inhibition of ADAM15 expressionand/or activity is achieved using antibodies, antisense nucleic acids,and the like, one skilled in the art would appreciate, based upon thedisclosure provided herein, that the present invention encompassesselectively affecting one or more ADAM15 molecules and, in certaincases, the invention encompasses inhibiting the expression or activityof all ADAM15 molecules. Whether one or more ADAM15 molecule should beaffected can be readily determined by the skilled artisan based on whichdisease, disorder or condition is being treated, and the specific celland/or tissue being targeted.

The invention should not be construed as being limited solely to theantibodies disclosed herein or to any particular immunogenic portion ofthe proteins of the invention. Rather, the invention should be construedto include other antibodies, as that term is defined elsewhere herein,to ADAM15 variant, or portions thereof, or to proteins sharing greaterthan 70% homology with a polypeptide having the amino acid sequence ofat least one of SEQ ID NO:2 and SEQ TD NO:4. Preferably, the polypeptideis about 80% homologous, more preferably, about 90% homologous, evenmore preferably, about 95% homologous, and most preferably, about 99%homologous to at least one of human ADAM15 variant 1 (SEQ ID NO:2) andhuman ADAM15 variant 2 (SEQ ID NO:4). More preferably, the polypeptidethat specifically binds with an antibody specific for mammalian ADAM15variant is at least one of human ADAM15 variant 1 and human ADAM15variant 2. Most preferably, the polypeptide that specifically binds withan antibody that specifically binds with a mammalian ADAM15 variant isat least one of SEQ ID NO: 2 and SEQ ID NO:4.

The invention encompasses polyclonal, monoclonal, synthetic antibodies,and the like. One skilled in the art would understand, based upon thedisclosure provided herein, that the crucial feature of the antibody ofthe invention is that the antibody bind specifically with ADAM15variant. That is, the antibody of the invention recognizes ADAM15variant, or a fragment thereof (e.g., an immunogenic portion orantigenic determinant thereof), on Western blots, in immunostaining ofcells, and immunoprecipitates ADAM15 variant using standard methodswell-known in the art.

One skilled in the art would appreciate, based upon the disclosureprovided herein, that the antibodies can be used to localize therelevant protein in a cell and to study the role(s) of the antigenrecognized thereby in cell processes. Moreover, the antibodies can beused to detect and or measure the amount of protein present in abiological sample using well-known methods such as, but not limited to,Western blotting and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).Moreover, the antibodies can be used to immunoprecipitate and/orimmuno-affinity purify their cognate antigen using methods well-known inthe art. In addition, the antibody can be used to decrease the level ofADAM15 variant in a cell thereby inhibiting the effect(s) of ADAM15variant in a cell. Thus, by administering the antibody to a cell or tothe tissues of an animal or to the animal itself, the required ADAM15variant/Her-2 protein/protein interactions are therefore inhibited suchthat the effect of ADAM15 variant-mediated activity are also inhibited.One skilled in the art would understand, based upon the disclosureprovided herein, that detectable effects upon inhibiting ADAM15variant/Her-2 protein/protein interaction and/or activity using ananti-ADAM15 variant antibody can include, but are not limited to,decreased cleavage of Her-2, decreased shedding of the Her-2 ectodomain,decreased level of p95, decreased level of p95-mediated processes, andthe like.

One skilled in the art would appreciate, based upon the disclosureprovided herein, that the invention encompasses administering anantibody that specifically binds with ADAM15 variant orally,parenterally, or both, to inhibit ADAM15 variant function in cleavingHer-2.

The generation of polyclonal antibodies is accomplished by inoculatingthe desired animal with the antigen and isolating antibodies whichspecifically bind the antigen therefrom using standard antibodyproduction methods such as those described in, for example, Harlow etal. (1988, In: Antibodies, A Laboratory Manual, Cold Spring Harbor,N.Y.).

Monoclonal antibodies directed against full length or peptide fragmentsof a protein or peptide may be prepared using any well known monoclonalantibody preparation procedures, such as those described, for example,in Harlow et al. (1988, In: Antibodies, A Laboratory Manual, Cold SpringHarbor, N.Y.) and in Tuszynski et al. (1988, Blood, 72:109-115).Quantities of the desired peptide may also be synthesized using chemicalsynthesis technology. Alternatively, DNA encoding the desired peptidemay be cloned and expressed from an appropriate promoter sequence incells suitable for the generation of large quantities of peptide.Monoclonal antibodies directed against the peptide are generated frommice immunized with the peptide using standard procedures as referencedherein.

Nucleic acid encoding the monoclonal antibody obtained using theprocedures described herein may be cloned and sequenced using technologywhich is available in the art, and is described, for example, in Wrightet al. (1992, Critical Rev. Immunol. 12:125-168), and the referencescited therein.

Further, the antibody of the invention may be “humanized” using thetechnology described in, for example, Wright et al. (1992, Critical Rev.Immunol. 12:125-168), and in the references cited therein, and in Gu etal. (1997, Thrombosis and Hematocyst 77:755-759), and other methods ofhumanizing antibodies well-known in the art or to be developed.

To generate a phage antibody library, a cDNA library is first obtainedfrom mRNA which is isolated from cells, e.g., the hybridoma, whichexpress the desired protein to be expressed on the phage surface, e.g.,the desired antibody. cDNA copies of the mRNA are produced using reversetranscriptase. cDNA which specifies immunoglobulin fragments areobtained by PCR and the resulting DNA is cloned into a suitablebacteriophage vector to generate a bacteriophage DNA library comprisingDNA specifying immunoglobulin genes. The procedures for making abacteriophage library comprising heterologous DNA are well known in theart and are described, for example, in Sambrook et al., (1989, MolecularCloning: A Laboratory Manual, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, New York).

Bacteriophage which encode the desired antibody, may be engineered suchthat the protein is displayed on the surface thereof in such a mannerthat it is available for binding to its corresponding binding protein,e.g., the antigen against which the antibody is directed. Thus, whenbacteriophage which express a specific antibody are incubated in thepresence of a cell which expresses the corresponding antigen, thebacteriophage will bind to the cell. Bacteriophage which do not expressthe antibody will not bind to the cell. Such panning techniques are wellknown in the art and are described for example, in Wright et al. (1992,Critical Rev. Immunol. 12:125-168).

Processes such as those described above, have been developed for theproduction of human antibodies using M13 bacteriophage display (Burtonet al., 1994, Adv. Immunol. 57:191-280). Essentially, a cDNA library isgenerated from mRNA obtained from a population of antibody-producingcells. The mRNA encodes rearranged immunoglobulin genes and thus, thecDNA encodes the same. Amplified cDNA is cloned into M13 expressionvectors creating a library of phage which express human Fab fragments ontheir surface. Phage which display the antibody of interest are selectedby antigen binding and are propagated in bacteria to produce solublehuman Fab immunoglobulin. Thus, in contrast to conventional monoclonalantibody synthesis, this procedure immortalizes DNA encoding humanimmunoglobulin rather than cells which express human immunoglobulin.

The procedures just presented describe the generation of phage whichencode the Fab portion of an antibody molecule. However, the inventionshould not be construed to be limited solely to the generation of phageencoding Fab antibodies. Rather, phage which encode single chainantibodies (scFv/phage antibody libraries) are also included in theinvention. Fab molecules comprise the entire Ig light chain, that is,they comprise both the variable and constant region of the light chain,but include only the variable region and first constant region domain(CH1) of the heavy chain. Single chain antibody molecules comprise asingle chain of protein comprising the Ig Fv fragment. An Ig Fv fragmentincludes only the variable regions of the heavy and light chains of theantibody, having no constant region contained therein. Phage librariescomprising scFv DNA may be generated following the procedures describedin Marks et al. (1991, J. Mol. Biol. 222:581-597). Panning of phage sogenerated for the isolation of a desired antibody is conducted in amanner similar to that described for phage libraries comprising Fab DNA.

The invention should also be construed to include synthetic phagedisplay libraries in which the heavy and light chain variable regionsmay be synthesized such that they include nearly all possiblespecificities (Barbas, 1995, Nature Medicine 1:837-839; de Kruif et al.1995, J. Mol. Biol. 248:97-105).

In addition to administering an antibody to a cell to inhibit theactivity and/or expression of mammalian ADAM15 variant, the inventionencompasses administering an antibody that specifically binds with amammalian ADAM15 variant, or a nucleic acid encoding the antibody,wherein the molecule further comprises an intracellular retentionsequence such that antibody binds with the ADAM15 variant and preventsits expression at the cell surface, or at other locations throughout thesubcellular milieu. Such antibodies, frequently referred to as“intrabodies”, are well known in the art and are described in, forexample, Marasco et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 6,004,490) and Beerli et al.(1996, Breast Cancer Research and Treatment 38:11-17). Thus, theinvention encompasses methods comprising inhibiting binding of ADAM15variant with a Her-2 molecule, thereby preventing cleavage of Her-2 bythe ADAM15 variant using methods comprising, among other things,antibodies, chemical compounds, small molecules, peptidomimetics, drugs,and the like, as well as methods of inhibiting the cleavage byinhibiting the expression or intracellular trafficking of the ADAM15variant using, inter alia, inhibiting the ADAM15 variant being presenton the cell surface (e.g., methods comprising ribozymes, antisensemolecules, intrabodies, and the like), and such methods as become knownin the future for inhibiting protein/protein interaction on the cellsurface between ADAM15 variant and Her-2.

VI. Methods and Compositions Relating to Identification of Role of ADAMin Cleavage of Her-2

The importance of Applicants' discovery of cleavage of Her-2 by ADAM,such as ADAM10 or ADAM15, is now discussed and methods, compositions andkits relating to this crucial breakthrough are now described as follows.

Methods Relating to Inhibition of ADAM10/15 Cleavage of Her-2

As discussed in detail elsewhere herein, Her-2 has been found to play arole in a number of human carcinomas. Without wishing to be bound by anyparticular theory, a mechanism proposed by which Her-2 may play a rolein cancer may be by cleavage of Her-2 receptor to form themembrane-associated constitutively-active receptor p95. The presence ofp95 has been correlated to aggressive forms of breast cancer, as well asforms of breast cancer that are more likely to recur. Therefore, methodsand compositions that can inhibit the production of p95 in vivo may beuseful in treating and/or preventing certain types of cancer. It hadbeen suggested that cleavage of Her-2 produces a constitutively activep95 stub from Her-2 and that the increased signaling associated ormediated by the stub plays a role in tumor cell metastasis and isassociated with poor clinical outcome in cancers relating to Her-2overexpressing tumors. However, it was not known, until the presentinvention, which protein, or proteins, mediated cleavage of Her-2 toproduce an ECD, and, more importantly, to produce the cell-associatedp95 stub. This was an obstacle to development of potential treatmentsand therapeutic modalities since the “target” for the therapy had notbeen identified and the therapy, therefore, could not be limited to anyparticular target so as to limit any unwanted effects) on unrelatedprocesses.

The present invention provides, for the first time, the identificationof a protein that mediates the cleavage of Her-2 to produce p95 (as wellas ECD), referred to herein as “sheddase.” The identified proteinsbelong to the ADAM family. Members of the ADAM family of proteins areknown to play various roles in a cell. Further, a number of known ADAMshave been shown to have metalloprotease activity and to have consensussequences for active metalloprotease domains, Nonetheless, until thepresent invention, it had not been demonstrated that an ADAM, morespecifically, ADAM10 and ADAM15, mediated Her-2 shedding associatedwith, among other things, cancer.

The invention provides a method for preventing cleavage of Her-2 wherethe Her-2 is associated with a cell. This is because the data disclosedherein demonstrate that a number of ADAM proteins are expressed invarious Her-2-containing cell lines. Such cell lines include, but arenot limited to, Her-2 shedding cell lines BT474, SKOV3, SKBR3, MDA,MCF7, and T47D. Advantageously, the present invention provides methodsfor the inhibition of ADAM-mediated Her-2 cleavage in Her-2-containingcell lines. The data disclosed herein demonstrate, for the first time,that inhibition or abrogation of ADAM10 and/or ADAM15, unexpectedlyreduces Her-2 shedding in cells. That is, it has been found thatcontacting a Her-2 overexpressing cell which contains ADAM10, ADAM15, orboth, with an inhibitor of such ADAM, detectably reduces shedding of theHer-2 ectodomain ECD-105, and therefore, production of p95 Her-2, isdetectably inhibited.

The invention further provides a method for preventing cleavage of Her-2in vivo. The data provided herein shows that inhibition of Her-2cleavage in vivo is associated with inhibition of tumor growth. The datafurther provide that ADAM inhibitors alone mediate inhibition of in vivoHer-2 cleavage, inhibition of tumor growth, and in vivo inhibition ofkinase signaling pathways. Accordingly, inhibition of Her-2 cleavage invivo can be useful in the treatment of cancer.

Therefore, it is a feature of the present invention to provide a methodfor preventing cleavage of Her-2 to form p95 in a cell, in vitro or invivo. As discussed elsewhere herein, prevention of p95 formation may beuseful in control of cell growth and in treatment of cancer. The datadisclosed herein demonstrate, among other things, that Her-2 shedding,cell proliferation, and tumor growth is inhibited where a cell iscontacted with a Her-2 cleavage-inhibiting amount of an ADAM10, ADAM15,or both, inhibitor. As will be understood by one of skill in the art, a“Her-2 cleavage-inhibiting amount” of an ADAM inhibitor is an amount ofsuch an inhibitor that detectably reduces the cleavage of Her-2 asdemonstrated by detectably decreasing the level of p95, p105 ECD, orboth. As described in greater detail elsewhere herein, preventingcleavage of Her-2 to form p95 is useful when the effects of theconstitutively-active p95 “stub” are not desired, or are sought to beeliminated.

One skilled in the art would appreciate, based upon the disclosureprovided herein, that where a cell or tissue produces both ADAM10 andADAM15, and/or where p95 production is mediated by both ADAMs, that aninhibitor of each can be administered, either simultaneously orseparately, to the cell or tissue. Alternatively, the skilled artisanwould understand that where an inhibitor inhibits both ADAM10 andADAM15, such an inhibitor can be used to inhibit the cleavage of Her-2to produce p95. Further, the artisan would appreciate, based upon theteachings provided herein, that various combinations of inhibitors canbe administered to inhibit sheddase activity, and the present inventionis not limited in any way with regard to the administration of one orany number and combination of ADAM inhibitor(s).

An inhibitor of the cleavage of Her-2 by ADAM is an ADAM polypeptideinhibitor. An inhibitor of an ADAM10 or ADAM15, or both, polypeptide canbe a nucleic acid, a polypeptide, or any other molecule or compoundknown by one skilled in the relevant art to be useful for inhibition ofprotein-mediated activity. Further, an ADAM inhibitor can be anantisense nucleic acid, a ribozyme, an antibody, or a small moleculeinhibitor. While the present invention is exemplified by inhibition ofADAM activity using a siRNA molecule, the invention is not limited tothis, or any other inhibitor of Her-2 cleavage. Indeed, novel MPIs, havealso been disclosed elsewhere herein, that can be used to inhibitsheddase cleavage of Her-2. Thus, one skilled in the art wouldappreciate, based upon the disclosure provided herein, that theinvention is in no way limited to these, or any other, sheddaseinhibitors. Rather, the invention includes any ADAM inhibitor thatdetectably decreases cleavage of Her-2 to produce p95, including any tobe developed in the future as would be understood based upon theteachings provided herein. More specifically, the invention includes anyinhibitor of ADAM10, ADAM15, or an inhibitor that inhibits both.

As described elsewhere herein, ADAM comprises a metalloprotease domain,and has been demonstrated herein to have metalloprotease activity. ADAMfamily members are zinc proteases that are comprised of NH₂-signalpeptide, pro domain, catalytic domain, disintegrin domain, cysteine richregion, EGF repeat, transmembrane region, cytoplasmic tail. ADAM10 andADAM15 are both type I membrane proteins and their catalytically activeprotease domain is located extracellularly. These extracellularcatalytic domain places the protease activity in juxtaposition with theregion of Her-2 cleaved during ecto domain shedding. Therefore, an ADAMinhibitor useful in the present invention is an inhibitor of ADAM (e.g.,ADAM10 and ADAM15) biological activity wherein such “biologicalactivity” includes, but is not limited to, cleavage of Her-2, and moreparticularly, the cleavage of Her-2 to form p95, ECD, or both. Becausethe cleavage of Her-2 to form p95 has been implicated herein to play arole in the progression of cancer in Her-2 overexpressing cells, thebiological activity of ADAM10 or ADAM15 as used herein also encompassesa the potential to inhibit cell growth, induce cell death, and otheranticarcinogenic effect.

The present invention features methods of inhibiting cleavage of Her-2in a cell comprising Her-2, in vitro or in vivo. As set forth in detailelsewhere herein, the cleavage of Her-2 produces p95 and ECD105, andbased on the data disclosed for the first time herein, p95 is implicatedin subsequently playing a role in the development and progression ofcancer. Therefore, one of skill in the art would understand, based onthe disclosure herein, that inhibition of the cleavage of Her-2 willrepress the production of p95 and attendant carcinogenic processes. Thereduction of p95 production is useful for the prevention of anyconditions or disorders associated with increased Her-2/p95 signaling.For example, as disclosed in detail elsewhere herein, overexpression ofHer-2 occurs in 25-30% of breast cancers. Patients with Her-2overexpressing tumors have a distinctly unfavorable clinical course,characterized by shortened time to disease recurrence and reducedsurvival. Therefore, the repression of p95 production can inhibit and/ordecrease Her-2/p95-based signaling, subsequently minimizing theunfavorable clinical course of Her-2/p95-mediated disease.

In an embodiment of the present invention, a cell containing Her-2 iscontacted with an ADAM (e.g., ADAM10, ADAM15, or both) inhibitor capableof inhibiting the cleavage of Her-2. As will be understood by one ofskill in the art, an ADAM inhibitor exhibiting the ability of inhibitingcleavage of Her-2, i.e., an inhibitor of p95 production, can beidentified using methods well known in the art, including thosedescribed elsewhere herein. By way of a non-limiting example, aninhibitor of Her-2 cleavage can be identified by monitoring the cleavageof Her-2 in a first system in which ADAM10, or ADAM15, or both, isprovided in the presence of a putative Her-2 cleavage-inhibiting ADAMinhibitor, and comparing the results obtained in the first system withthe results obtained from a second system in which the same ADAM isprovided in the absence any Her-2 cleavage-inhibiting ADAM inhibitor.Inhibition of the cleavage of Her-2 in the first system can beidentified using numerous methods of analysis, including those methodsof identification of Her-2 cleavage/p95-ECD105 production set forth indetail elsewhere herein, followed by a differential comparison of theresults obtained in the first and second experimental systems describedimmediately above. The presence of a lesser amount of p95 (or ECD105) inthe putative ADAM inhibitor-containing system than in the system devoidof any putative ADAM inhibitor is an indication that the putative ADAMinhibitor functions to inhibit the cleavage of Her-2 and the productionof p95 by way of inhibition of ADAM10, 15, or both. By assessing theability of the inhibitor to inhibit ADAM10 and ADAM15 separately, it canbe further determined which ADAM is inhibited by the inhibitor andwhether the inhibitor inhibits cleavage of Her-2 by both ADAMs.

One embodiment of the invention provides a method of inhibiting thecleavage of Her-2, wherein ADAM10 is the Her-2-cleaving agent.Inhibition of the ADAM10-mediated cleavage of Her-2 is confirmed usingany method set forth herein for the analysis of the inhibition of Her-2cleavage. Without wishing to be bound by any particular theory,inhibition of the ADAM10-mediated cleavage of Her-2 may occur in anumber of ways. In one aspect of the invention, ADAM10 cleavage of Her-2may be inhibited by an ADAM10 inhibitor that binds with ADAM10, therebypreventing the interaction of ADAM10 with Her-2 by preventing necessarycontact of ADAM10 with Her-2. Alternatively, ADAM10 cleavage of Her-2can be inhibited by an ADAM10 inhibitor that binds to ADAM10 and altersthe structure of ADAM10, thereby inhibiting or reducing the interactionof ADAM10 with Her-2. Additionally, ADAM10 cleavage of Her-2 may beinhibited by an ADAM10 inhibitor that binds to ADAM10 and inhibits theproteolytic activity of ADAM10, thereby preventing proteolytic action ofADAM10 on Her-2.

Similarly, another embodiment of the invention provides a method ofinhibiting the cleavage of Her-2, wherein ADAM15 is the Her-2-cleavingagent. Inhibition of the ADAM15-mediated cleavage of Her-2 is confirmedusing any method set forth herein for the analysis of the inhibition ofHer-2 cleavage. Without wishing to be bound by any particular theory,inhibition of the ADAM15-mediated cleavage of Her-2 may occur in anumber of ways. In one aspect of the invention, ADAM15 cleavage of Her-2may be inhibited by an ADAM15 inhibitor that binds with ADAM15, therebypreventing the interaction of ADAM15 with Her-2 by preventing necessarycontact of ADAM15 with Her-2. Alternatively, ADAM15 cleavage of Her-2can be inhibited by an ADAM15 inhibitor that binds to ADAM15 and altersthe structure of ADAM15, thereby inhibiting or reducing the interactionof ADAM15 with Her-2. Additionally, ADAM15 cleavage of Her-2 may beinhibited by an ADAM15 inhibitor that binds to ADAM15 and inhibits theproteolytic activity of ADAM15, thereby preventing proteolytic action ofADAM15 on Her-2.

The invention is not limited to an inhibitor that affects ADAM toinhibit cleavage of Her-2. Instead, the invention includes an inhibitorthat binds with Her-2 to inhibit cleavage of Her-2 by the ADAM, therebyinhibiting production of p95, p105 ECD, or both. Accordingly, anotherembodiment of the invention provides a method of inhibiting the ADAM10-or ADAM15-mediated cleavage of Her-2, wherein the interaction of ADAM10,ADAM15, or both, and Her-2 is prevented by way of an ADAM inhibitor thatbinds to Her-2. In yet another aspect of the invention, ADAM10 or ADAM15cleavage of Her-2 may be inhibited by an ADAM10 or ADAM15 inhibitor thatbinds to Her-2, thereby preventing the interaction of ADAM10 or ADAM15with Her-2 by preventing direct contact of ADAM10 or ADAM15 with Her-2.In another aspect of the invention, ADAM10 or ADAM15 cleavage of Her-2may be inhibited by an ADAM inhibitor that binds to Her-2 and alters thestructure of Her-2, thereby preventing the interaction of ADAM10,ADAM15, or both, with Her-2.

In an embodiment of the invention, the ADAM is a mammalian ADAM10. Aswill be understood by one of skill in the art, a mammalian ADAM10 may bepresent in a mammalian cell. Additionally, a mammalian ADAM10 may bepresent in a non-mammalian cell. For example, a method of the presentinvention includes a nucleic acid encoding a mammalian ADAM10transformed or transfected into any non-mammalian cell known to oneskilled in the art to be useful for expression of a non-native orexogenous proteins.

In an embodiment of the invention, the ADAM is a mammalian ADAM15. Aswill be understood by one of skill in the art, a mammalian ADAM15 may bepresent in a mammalian cell. Additionally, a mammalian ADAM15 may bepresent in a non-mammalian cell. For example, a method of the presentinvention includes a nucleic acid encoding a mammalian ADAM15transformed or transfected into any non-mammalian cell known to oneskilled in the art to be useful for expression of a non-native orexogenous proteins.

In some embodiments of the invention, the ADAM is a mammalian ADAM10 ora mammalian ADAM15. As will be understood by one of skill in the art,both mammalian ADAM10 and ADAM15 may be present in a mammalian cell.Additionally, both mammalian ADAM10 and ADAM15 can be present in anon-mammalian cell. For example, a method of the present inventionincludes introducing (e.g., co-transforming, co-transfecting,co-transducing, gene activation, and the like) a nucleic acid encoding amammalian ADAM10 and a nucleic acid encoding a mammalian ADAM15 into anynon-mammalian a cell known to one skilled in the art to be useful forexpression of a non-native or exogenous proteins such that both ADAMsare present and expressed in the same cell where they were notpreviously present and/or expressed.

The present invention also features a method of inhibiting production ofp95 by a cell. In an embodiment of the invention, a cell is contactedwith a cleavage-inhibiting amount of an ADAM inhibitor, therebyinhibiting cleavage of Her-2 to produce p95. A “cleavage-inhibitingamount” of an inhibitor is defined herein as an amount of the inhibitorsufficient to produce a detectably lower level of p95 in cell expressingHer-2 when compared with the production of p95 by an otherwise identicalcell not contacted with the compound or with the same cell prior to thecell being contacted with the compound.

The present invention also features a method of inhibiting production ofp95 where the Her-2 is not associated with a cell. Methods of isolating,purifying, stabilizing, and solubilizing cell-associated proteins toexist unassociated with a cell are well known in the art, and will notbe discussed further. One of skill in the relevant art will thereforeknow how to prepare and use Her-2 and ADAM10, ADAM15, or both, proteinswhere the proteins are not associated with an intact cell (e.g.,solubilized, among other things) in accordance with the methods of thepresent invention.

In an embodiment of the invention, a Her-2 molecule is contacted with acleavage-inhibiting amount of a inhibitor in a mixture comprising asheddase (e.g., ADAM10, ADAM15, or both), thereby inhibiting cleavage ofHer-2 to produce p95. A “cleavage-inhibiting amount” of a inhibitor isdefined herein as an amount of the inhibitor sufficient to produce alower level of p95 in a reaction mixture containing ADAM sheddase(ADAM10, 15, or both), Her-2, and the inhibitor, in comparison to thelevel of p95 in an otherwise identical reaction mixture that does notcontain the inhibitor.

In an aspect of the invention, the inhibitor is an inhibitor of ADAM10,ADAM 15, or both, that binds with the ADAM, thereby preventing theinteraction of ADAM10, 15, or both, with Her-2 by preventing directcontact of ADAM10, ADAM15, or both, with Her-2. In another aspect of theinvention, the cleavage inhibitor is an ADAM10, ADAM15, or both,inhibitor that binds to ADAM10, ADAM15, or both, and alters thestructure of ADAM10, ADAM15, or both, thereby preventing the interactionof ADAM10, ADAM15, or both, with Her-2. In yet another aspect of theinvention, the cleavage inhibitor is an ADAM10, ADAM15, or both,inhibitor that binds to ADAM10, ADAM15, or both, and inhibits theproteolytic activity of ADAM10, ADAM15, or both, thereby preventingproteolytic action of ADAM10, ADAM15, or both, on Her-2. In yet anotheraspect of the invention, the cleavage inhibitor is an ADAM10, ADAM15, orboth, inhibitor that binds to Her-2, thereby preventing the interactionof ADAM10, ADAM15, or both, with Her-2 by preventing direct contact ofADAM10, ADAM15, or both, with Her-2. In still another aspect of theinvention, the cleavage inhibitor is an ADAM10, ADAM15, or both,inhibitor that binds to Her-2 and alters the structure of Her-2, therebypreventing the interaction of ADAM10, ADAM15, or both, with Her-2.

The present invention also features a cleavage inhibitor that is aninhibitor of the proteolytic activity of ADAM10, ADAM15, or both.Compounds having the ability to inhibit protease activity, i.e.,protease inhibitors, are well-known in the art, and accordingly, one ofskill in the art would recognize and know how to produce and use acompound that is a protease inhibitor that is specific for an ADAM ofinterest, e.g., ADAM10, ADAM15, and the like.

Nucleic Acid-Based Methods Relating to Inhibiting Her-2 Cleavage byADAM10 and ADAM15

The skilled artisan would appreciate, based upon the disclosure providedherein, that the present invention encompasses inhibition of aHer-2-mediated signal otherwise transmitted via a Her-2 receptor thatwas cleaved by an ADAM by preventing cleavage of the Her-2 receptor bythe ADAM. That is, the data disclosed herein demonstrate that ADAM(e.g., ADAM10, ADAM15, or both) cleave Her-2 to produce p95 and the p95so produced, in turn, transmits a signal. The data further demonstratethat inhibition of production of p95, and thus, inhibition oftransmission of a signal via the constitutively active p95, mediates anumber of effects, including, but not limited to, decreasedphosphorylation of certain proteins, decreased cell proliferation,induction of cell death, and the like. Thus, where these effects aredesired, a wide plethora of methods for inhibiting signaling via the p95stub can be used to mediate the desired effect, especially where thecell mediates a disease, disorder or condition, such as, but not limitedto cancer.

The skilled artisan would further understand, once armed with theteachings provided herein, that the present invention includesadministering a ribozyme or an antisense nucleic acid molecule to a cellthereby inhibiting expression of ADAM10, 15, or both, in the cell, wherethe design and use of such molecules to inhibit expression of a proteinof interest in a cell are well-known in the art as follows briefly. Thatis, the data disclosed herein demonstrate that inhibition of expressionof an mRNA encoding an ADAM that cleaves Her-2 to produce ECD, p95, orboth, decreases the cleavage of Her-2. Further, any method thatdecreases the level of an ADAM that cleaves Her-2 mediates such aneffect as would be readily appreciated by the skilled artisan based uponthe disclosure provided herein and such method is encompassed by theinvention.

Antisense molecules and their use for inhibiting gene expression arewell known in the art (see, e.g., Cohen, 1989, In:Oligodeoxyribonucleotides, Antisense Inhibitors of Gene Expression, CRCPress). Antisense nucleic acids are DNA or RNA molecules that arecomplementary to at least a portion of a specific mRNA molecule(Weintraub, 1990, Scientific American 262:40). In the cell, antisensenucleic acids hybridize to the corresponding mRNA, forming adouble-stranded molecule thereby inhibiting the translation of genes.

The use of antisense methods to inhibit the translation of genes isknown in the art, and is described, for example, in Marcus-Sakura (1988,Anal. Biochem. 172:289). Such antisense molecules may be provided to thecell via genetic expression using DNA encoding the antisense molecule astaught by Inoue (1993, U.S. Pat. No. 5,190,931).

Alternatively, antisense molecules can be produced synthetically andthen provided to the cell. Antisense oligomers of between about 10 toabout 100, and more preferably about 15 to about 50 nucleotides, arepreferred, since they are easily synthesized and introduced into atarget cell. Synthetic antisense molecules contemplated by the inventioninclude oligonucleotide derivatives known in the art which, haveimproved biological activity compared to unmodified oligonucleotides(see Cohen, supra; Tullis, 1991, U.S. Pat. No. 5,023,243, incorporatedby reference herein in its entirety).

Ribozymes and their use for inhibiting gene expression are also wellknown in the art (see, e.g., Cech et al., 1992, J. Biol. Chem.267:17479-17482; Hampel et al., 1989, Biochemistry 28:4929-4933;Eckstein et al., International Publication No. WO 92/07065; Altman etal., U.S. Pat. No. 5,168,053, incorporated by reference herein in itsentirety). Ribozymes are RNA molecules possessing the ability tospecifically cleave other single-stranded RNA in a manner analogous toDNA restriction endonucleases. Through the modification of nucleotidesequences encoding these RNAs, molecules can be engineered to recognizespecific nucleotide sequences in an RNA molecule and cleave it (Cech,1988, J. Amer. Med. Assn. 260:3030). A major advantage of this approachis that, because they are sequence-specific, only mRNAs with particularsequences are inactivated.

There are two basic types of ribozymes, namely, tetrahymena-type(Hasselhoff, 1988, Nature 334:585) and hammerhead-type. Tetrahymena-typeribozymes recognize sequences which, are four bases in length, whilehammerhead-type ribozymes recognize base sequences 11-18 bases inlength. The longer the sequence, the greater the likelihood that thesequence will occur exclusively in the target mRNA species.Consequently, hammerhead-type ribozymes are preferable totetrahymena-type ribozymes for inactivating specific mRNA species, and18-base recognition sequences are preferable to shorter recognitionsequences which may occur randomly within various unrelated mRNAmolecules.

In certain situations, it may be desirable to inhibit expression ofADAM10, ADAM15, or both, and the invention therefore includescompositions useful for inhibition of ADAM10, ADAM15, or both,expression. Thus, the invention features an isolated nucleic acidcomplementary to a portion or all of a nucleic acid encoding a mammalianADAM10, 15, or both, which nucleic acid is in an antisense orientationwith respect to transcription. Preferably, the antisense nucleic acid iscomplementary with a nucleic acid having at least about 90% homologywith ADAM10, 15, or both. Preferably, the nucleic acid is about 95%homologous, more preferably, about 96% homologous, more preferably,about 98% homologous, and most preferably, about 99% homologous to anucleic acid complementary to a portion or all of a nucleic acidencoding a mammalian ADAM10, 15, or both, or a fragment thereof, whichis in an antisense orientation with respect to transcription. Mostpreferably, the nucleic acid is complementary to a portion or all of anucleic acid having the sequence, or a fragment thereof, of a sequenceknown to encode ADAM10, ADAM15, or both. Such antisense nucleic acidserves to inhibit the expression, function, or both, of ADAM10, ADAM15,or both.

In one embodiment, the present invention features a method of inhibitingcleavage of Her-2, whereby the ADAM-mediated cleavage of Her-2 isinhibited by contacting a cell with a Her-2 cleavage-inhibiting amountof an ADAM-directed antisense nucleic acid. One skilled in the art wouldappreciate, based on the disclosure provided herein, that an antisenseADAM inhibitor of the invention includes molecules and compounds thatprevent or inhibit ADAM10, ADAM15, or both, from being accessible toHer-2 on the cell surface. That is, the invention contemplates that anantisense and/or antisense molecule that prevents the expression ofADAM10, ADAM15, or both, such that Her-2 is not cleaved to form p95 canbe an inhibitor of the invention.

In an aspect of the invention, an ADAM inhibitor is an siRNA. Smallinterfering RNAs (siRNA) mediate a process of post-transcriptional genesilencing called RNA interference (RNAi) in which the siRNAs directssequence specific cleavage and degradation of cellular mRNA targets towhich the siRNA has sequence identity (Tuschl, 2002 Nature Biotech.20:446-448; Sharp, 2001, Genes Dev. 15:485-490). The siRNAs may bedouble-stranded synthetic RNAs of 19 to 21 nucleotides with a 2 to 3nucleotide 3′ overhang or they may be expressed as short hairpin RNAs(shRNA), in which the individual sense and antisense strands are joinedby a tightly-structured loop, from plasm ids or viral vectors harboringboth RNA polymerase III promoter and terminator sequences (Elbashir etal., 2001, Nature 411:494-498; Paul et al., 2002, Nature Biotech.20:505-508; Paddison et al., 2002, Proc. Natl. Acad, Sci. USA99:1443-1448). As described in detail in Tuschl et al. and Sharp,incorporated herein by reference in their entirety, and as understood byone of skill in the art, siRNA can be used to knockdown expression of aHer-2 cleaving ADAM (i.e., ADAM10, 15, or both) in a cell. Therefore,the present invention encompasses administering to a Her-2-expressingcell a Her-2 cleavage inhibiting amount of an ADAM inhibitor where theinhibitor is an siRNA. In an embodiment of the invention, the siRNA isdirected to ADAM10 RNA, ADAM15, RNA, or both. In one aspect, theADAM-directed siRNA is comprised of a double-stranded RNA, of which asingle strand is complementary to ADAM10 RNA, ADAM15, RNA, or both. Thepresent invention is not limited to any particular siRNA; rather, theinvention encompasses a wide plethora of siRNAs having the ability toinhibit cleavage of Her-2 by ADAM10, ADAM15, or both. Indeed, the siRNAsdisclosed herein were commercially available, demonstrating thatproduction of such siRNAs is routinely performed in this art where thelevel of skill is high.

The present invention includes a nucleic acid useful in inhibitingcleavage of Her-2 by an ADAM10, an ADAM15, or both. That is, the datadisclosed herein demonstrate that the expression of a Her-2 cleavingADAM, e.g., ADAM10, ADAM15, and the like, can be knocked down, ordecreased, using a siRNA complementary to the mRNA encoding thepertinent ADAM. Inhibition of ADAM mRNA using an siRNA specific for thatADAM mediated, in turn, a decrease in Her-2 cleavage and, even moreimportantly, also mediated a decrease in Her-2 shedding. Because thedata disclosed herein further demonstrate that inhibition of Her-2shedding inhibits cell proliferation, induces cell death, and canmediate a beneficial effect in a patient afflicted with a Her-2overexpressing tumor, inhibition of ADAM expression using an siRNA canprovided an important potential therapeutic for a disease, disorder orcondition associated with, or mediated by, Her-2 cleavage, includingsuch disease, disorder or condition that is mediated by or associatedwith production of p95 in a cell.

As pointed out elsewhere herein, these nucleic acids are useful in thatthey can inhibit ADAM activity in a cell. Many metalloproteases arehighly expressed in tumor cells. As ADAM protease activity regulates theshedding of autocrine growth factors or their receptors, these proteinsmediate the growth, adhesion or motility of tumor cells. ADAM10 isoverexpressed in pheochromocytoma and neuroblastomas (Yavari et al.,1998 Hum. Mol. Genet. 7:1161-67). Moreover ADAM10 has been demonstratedthrough both genetic and biochemical experiments to be involved in theshedding of both Notch receptor and its ligand Delta. Genetic analysesof ADAM10 knockout mice or flies harboring loss of function mutations inthe Drosophila ortholog Kuzbanian, show strikingly similar phenotypes asloss of function mutations in the notch and delta. Importantly,expression of the Notch target gene hes-5 in the neural tube of ADAM10knockout mice was significantly reduced with a concomitant upregulationof the notch ligand dll-1, a gene that is negatively regulated byfeedback Notch signaling (Seals and Courtneidge, 2003, Genes Dev.17:7-30; Hartmann et al., 2002, Hum. M. Genet. 11:2615-24).

Notch can function as an oncogene in mouse and humans. In T-cells, forexample, chromosomal relocation or viral integrations that lead toexpression of a constitutively active cytoplasmic domain of Notch1 causeT-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (Radtke and Raj, 2003, Nat. Rev.Cancer. 3:756-67). Notch receptors and Notch ligands are also highlyexpressed in colon adenocarcinomas and breast cancers where Notchsignaling may contribute to Her-2 overexpression. Notch is alsoimportant in angiogenesis, and the ADAM10 knockout mice exhibitdefective vasculogenesis similar to notch knockout mice (Hartmann etal., 2002, Hum. Mol. Genet. 11:2615-24). Another ligand that isimplicated in many tumor types is epidermal growth factor; recentevidence indicates that ADAM10 and its metalloprotease activity isrequired for cleavage of heparin binding EGF and the transactivation ofEGFR signaling in response to G-protein coupled receptor activation (Yanet al., 2002. J. Cell Biol. 2002. 158:221-6). Therefore, the biologicalactivity of ADAM10 is crucial in a number of cell processes and theskilled artisan would appreciate that inhibition of its function(s) canhave useful effect(s).

Among the many uses illustrating the potential usefulness of inhibitingADAM15 activity is the fact that ADAM15 activity is important for themigration of mesangial cells (MC) from the core of the renal glomerulus.Migration of these cells from the core to the pericapillary space is afeature of a number of renal diseases including mesangiocapillaryglomerulonephritis. In a model of MC wounding, ADAM15 expression wasincreased and it was correlated with the mobility of these cells. MMPinhibitors, or antisense oligonucleotides, to ADAM15 reduced thismigration indicating that inhibition of ADAM15 activity may havebeneficial effects in disease characterized by MC motility (Martin etal., 2002, J. Biol. Chem. 277:33683-33689). In addition, ADAM15 knockoutmice implanted with melanoma cells showed reduced tumor size (Horiuchiet al., Mol. Cell. Biol. 2003, 5614).

The nucleic acid, when administered to a cell expressing Her-2,detectably inhibits ADAM activity. More preferably, the nucleic aciddetectably inhibits ADAM expression, even more preferably, it inhibitsHer-2 cleavage, yet more preferably, the nucleic acid inhibitsproduction of p95 in the cell, when compared with the level of p95production in an otherwise identical cell to which the nucleic acid isnot administered, and/or to the level of p95 in the cell prior toadministration of the nucleic acid. Additionally, the nucleic acid can,but need not, induce cell death, inhibit cell proliferation, inhibitsignaling via the Her-2 receptor, and the like.

Antisense nucleic acids that inhibit expression of ADAM10, 15, or both,can also be used for the manufacture of a medicament for treatment of adisease, disorder or condition mediated by increased expression of Her-2receptor when compared with expression of Her-2 receptor in a celland/or a patient not afflicted with the disease, disorder or condition.

Techniques for inhibiting expression of a nucleic acid in a cell arewell known in the art and encompass such methods as disclosed herein(e.g., inhibition using an antibody, an antisense nucleic acid, ansiRNA, a ribozyme, and the like). Other techniques useful for inhibitingexpression of a nucleic acid encoding ADAM10, 15, or both, include, butare not limited to, using nucleotide reagents that target specificsequences of the receptor promoter, and the like.

The skilled artisan would understand, based on the disclosure providedherein, that cleavage of a Her-2 receptor present in a cell can beinhibited or abrogated using a nucleic acid that prevents expression ofADAM10, ADAM15, or both, in the cell. As more fully set forth elsewhereherein, once the nucleic and amino acid sequences of a Her-2 cleavingADAM is known, various methods well-known in the art can be used toinhibit cleavage of Her-2 to form p95. Such methods include, but are notlimited to, antibodies, siRNAs, ribozymes, and antisense molecules. Thedesign and use of such compounds is well established once the skilledartisan is armed with the sequence of the nucleic acid encoding ADAM10,ADAM15, or both, such as disclosed herein where the data demonstratewhich ADAMs mediate cleavage of Her-2 (e.g., ADAM10, and ADAM15), andsuch methods are therefore not recited herein as they are well known inthe art. For instance, designing antisense molecules and ribozymes caneffectively inhibit progression of breast cancer by inhibitingexpression of ADAM10, ADAM15, or both, which, in turn, inhibits Her-2cleavage and production of p95, without affecting expression of otherADAM family members, which may be required for proper cell function.Thus, selective targeting of the Her-2 cleaving ADAMs, while notaffecting the function of other ADAMs, can avoid deleterious effects ofnon-specifically inhibiting cell growth, and other cell processes.

Where an antisense nucleic acid directed to ADAM10, ADAM15, or both, isadministered to a cell to reduce the level of ADAM10, ADAM15, or both,present in the cell, one skilled in the art would understand, based uponthe disclosure provided herein, that the amount of the nucleic acid tobe administered to the cell can be titrated by assessing the expressionlevel of nucleic acid encoding ADAM10, ADAM15, or both, present in thecell.

Methods for assessing the level of ADAM10, ADAM15, or both, expression(e.g., using anti-receptor antibodies in Western blot or otherimmune-based analyses such as ELISA) and/or methods for assessing thelevel of ADAM10, ADAM15, or both, expression in a cell and/or tissues(e.g., using Northern blot analysis, qPCR, and the like) are disclosedherein or are well known to those skilled in the art. Such assays can beused to determine the “effective amount” of ADAM10, ADAM15, or both,antisense nucleic acid, ribozyme, and the like, to be administered tothe cell in order to reduce or increase the level of ADAM10, ADAM15, orboth, expression. The amount of nucleic acid administered can be easilycalculated and adjusted as exemplified herein for siRNA that reducedexpression of ADAM10 and ADAM15, and concomitantly reduced Her-2cleavage and sheddase mediated shedding of ECD. However, the presentinvention is not limited to these, or any other, assay in particular fordetermining an effective amount of an inhibitor, including a nucleicacid-based inhibitor such as, but not limited to, siRNA.

Similarly, an antibody, or a nucleic acid, that specifically binds witha Her-2 cleaving ADAM (ADAM10, ADAM15, or both), can be administered toa cell thereby inhibiting Her-2 cleavage by that ADAM. The productionand use of “intrabodies”, as such antibodies are referred to in the art,is well known, and is therefore not discussed further herein. Theskilled artisan, armed with the teachings provided herein, especiallythat certain ADAMs mediate cleavage of Her-2 to produce p95, wouldreadily appreciate that intrabodies, among many other molecules, can beused to inhibit ADAM cleavage of Her-2.

Metalloprotease Inhibitors (MPIs)

ADAM inhibitors of the present invention include small moleculesreferred to herein as metalloprotease inhibitors (MPIs). An MPIaccording to the invention is capable of inhibiting (e.g., antagonizing)the activity of an ADAM. In some embodiments, the MPI inhibits theactivity of ADAM10, ADAM15, or both. In further embodiments, the ADAMactivity that is inhibited by the MPI is the cleavage of a kinasereceptor such as, for example, Her-2. The MPI can also modulate theactivity of other biological receptors including, for example, matrixmetalloproteases (MMPs). In some embodiments, the MPI inhibits theactivity of one or more MMPs including, for example, MMP1, MMP2, MMP3,MMP7, MMP8, MMP9, MMP10, MMP12, MMP13, MMP14 and/or other MMPs. The MPIcan further be selective for ADAM. By “selective for ADAM” is meant thatthe MPI is a more effective inhibitor (e.g., has a lower IC₅₀) of anADAM than of other metalloproteases (e.g., MMPs). In some embodiments,the MPI is further selective for ADAM10 or ADAM15; that is, the MPI is amore effective inhibitor of ADAM10 or ADAM15 than of othermetalloproteases including other ADAMs. In some further embodiments, anMPI selective for an ADAM is about 100-fold, about 50-fold, about20-fold, about 10-fold, about 6-fold, about 5-fold, about 3-fold, orabout 2-fold more active for inhibition of the ADAM than for any MMP(e.g., as measured by IC₅₀). In yet further embodiments, the MPI is atleast about 2-fold selective for an ADAM over any MMP.

Numerous compounds have been prepared that are metalloproteaseinhibitors and can be MPIs useful in the methods of the invention. Thefollowing patents describe some example MPIs that can be usefulaccording to the methods of the present invention: U.S. Pat. Nos.6,706,723; 6,703,415; 6,703,379; 6,696,456; 6,696,449; 6,689,794;6,689,771; 6,686,348; 6,683,155; 6,683,093; 6,683,060; 6,677,355;6,677,321; 6,667,388; 6,667,316; 6,660,738; 6,656,954; 6,656,448;6,642,255; 6,638,952; 6,624,196; 6,624,177; 6,624,144; 6,620,835;6,620,823; 6,620,813; 6,608,104; 6,605,742; 6,583,299; 6,579,982;6,579,890; 6,576,628; 6,569,899; 6,569,855; 6,566,381; 6,566,116;6,563,002; 6,559,142; 6,555,535; 6,548,667; 6,548,524; 6,545,038;6,544,980; 6,541,638; 6,541,521; 6,541,489; 6,534,491; 6,511,993;6,506,764; 6,500,948; 6,500,847; 6,495,699; 6,495,578; 6,495,565;6,492,422; and 6,492,367, the disclosures of each of which areincorporated herein by reference in their entirety. The precedinglisting represents only some of the numerous possible MPIs known in theart, and one skilled in the art would readily understand that themethods of the invention are not limited to the compounds explicitlyreferred to herein.

In some embodiments, the MPI is a compound having at least onehydroxamic acid moiety. Hydroxamate compounds, their preparation, andtheir use as metalloprotease inhibitors are well established in the artas illustrated by the numerous patent references listed above and, e.g.,Muri, et al. “Hydroxamic acids as pharmacological agents.” Curr. Med.Chem. 2002 September; 9(17):1631-53, which is incorporated herein byreference in its entirety.

Further hydroxamate compounds suitable as MPIs include any of thosereferred to above as well as those described in, for example, WO03/051825; WO 03/106381; U.S. Ser. No. 60/534,501; US. Ser. No.60/512,016; and U.S. Ser. No. 60/515,352, each of which is incorporatedherein by reference in its entirety.

Further hydroxamate compounds suitable as MPIs include the following:Compounds 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, and 8 (see Examples for compoundidentities); as well as(6S,7S)-N-hydroxy-5-methyl-6-[(4-phenylpiperidin-1-yl)carbonyl]-5-azaspiro[2.5]octane-7-carboxamide,(6S,7S)-N-hydroxy-5-methyl-6-[(4-phenyl-3,6-dihydropyridin-1(2H)-yl)carbonyl]-5-azaspiro[2.5]octane-7-carboxamide,(6S,7S)-N-Hydroxy-6-{[(3-phenylpyrrolidin-1-yl]carbonyl}-5-azaspiro[2.5]octane-7-carboxamide,(6S,7S)-N-hydroxy-6-((4-(methylsulfonyl)phenyl)-3,6-dihydropyridin-1(2H)-yl)carbonyl)-5-azaspiro(2,5)octane-carboxamide,(2S,3S)-N-hydroxyl-1-methyl-2-((10aS)-3,4,10,10a-tetrahydropyrazino(1,2-a)indol-2(1H)-yl-carbonyl)piperidine-3-carboxamide,(6S,7S)-N-hydroxy-6-((10aS)-3,4,10,10a-tetrahydropyrazino(1,2-a)-indol-2(1H)-yl-carbonyl)-5-azaspiro(2,5)octane-7-carboxamide,(6S,7S)-N-hydroxy-6-((4-(3-(methylsulfonyl)phenyl)-3,6-dihydropyridin-1(2H)-yl)carbonyl)-5-azaspiro(2,5)octane-7-carboxamide,methyl(6S,7S)-7-[(hydroxyamino)carbonyl]-6-[(4-phenyl-3,6-dihydropyridin-1(2H)-yl)carbonyl]-5-azaspiro[2.5]octane-5-carboxylate,benzyl(6S,7S)-7-[(hydroxyamino)carbonyl]-6-[(4-phenyl-3,6-dihydropyridin-1(2H)-yl)carbonyl]-5-azaspiro[2.5]octane-5-carboxylate,(6S,7S)-N-Hydroxy-5-(methylsulfonyl)-6-[(4-phenyl-3,6-dihydropyridin-1(2H)-yl)carbonyl]-5-azaspiro[2.5]octane-7-carboxamide,and(6S,7S)-N-hydroxy-6-{[4-(3-methoxyphenyl)piperidin-1-yl]carbonyl}-5-methyl-5-azaspiro[2.5]octane-7-carboxamide,each of which can be prepared according to the methods described in U.S.Ser. No. 60/534,501, which is incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety.

Further MPIs useful according to the methods of the present inventioninclude TAPI, prinomastat, batimastat, marimastat, tanomastat,BMS-275291, and CGS27023A, each of which are known as or have been inclinical development as a metalloprotease inhibitor.

MPIs suitable for use according to the methods of the present inventioncan be identified by any of numerous known assays testing for inhibitoryactivity of an ADAM. Example assays useful for identifying ADAM10 andADAM15 inhibitors are provided below.

ADAM10 Assay

5 mM Compound stock was prepared in DMSO. Compound plate was prepared by2-fold dilution for 11-point curve, with highest concentration of 500μM. 1 μL of compound in DMSO was transferred from compound plate to theassay plate. Enzyme solution was prepared in assay buffer with aconcentration of 100 ng/50 μL. Substrate((7-methoxycoumarin-4-yl)-acetyl-Pro-Leu-Ala-Gln-Ala-Val-(3-[2,4-dinitrophenyl]-L-2,3-diaminopropionyl)-Arg-Ser-Ser-Ser-Arg-NH₂(SEQ ID NO:48)) solution was prepared in assay buffer with aconcentration of 20 μM. 50 μL of enzyme solution was added to the assayplate. The assay plate was incubated for 5 minutes. 50 μL of substratesolution was then added to the assay plate. The plate was protected fromlight and incubated at 37° C. for 4 hours. The reaction was stopped byadding 10 μL of 500 mM EDTA solution. The plate was read on a platereader with excitation of 320 nm and emission of 405 nm.

ADAM15 Assay

ADAM15 can be assayed in a similar fashion to ADAM10 (see, e.g., Fourieet al., J Biol Chem. 2003, 278(33), 30469-77). In brief, a fluorescencequenched peptide substrate is made by labeling one terminus with afluorescent dye and the other terminus with a quencher dye. Cleavage ofthe peptide by ADAM15 can be measured by the increase in fluorescenceintensity as a result of the decrease in proximity of the quencher dyeto the fluorescent dye.

Methods in a Cell

The present invention provides numerous methods of inhibiting cleavageof Her-2 in a cell comprising Her-2, whereby an ADAM inhibitor (e.g.,ADAM10 and/or ADAM15 inhibitor) is administered to a cell. As set forthin detail elsewhere herein, the cleavage of Her-2 produces p95 andECD105, and based on the data disclosed for the first time herein, p95is implicated in subsequently playing a role in the development andprogression of cancer. Therefore, one of skill in the art wouldunderstand, based on the disclosure herein, that inhibition of thecleavage of Her-2 will repress the production of p-95. The repression ofp95 production is useful for the prevention of any conditions ordisorders associated with increased Her-2/p95 signaling. For example, asdisclosed in detail elsewhere herein, overexpression of Her-2 occurs in25-30% of breast cancers. Patients with Her-2 overexpressing tumors havea distinctly unfavorable clinical course, characterized by shortenedtime to disease recurrence and reduced survival. Therefore, therepression of p95 production will inhibit and/or decreaseHer-2/p95-based signaling, subsequently minimizing the unfavorableclinical course of Her-2/p95-mediated disease.

In some embodiments of the invention, the growth of a tumor celloverexpressing Her-2 is affected. In the method, a Her-2 overexpressingcell is contacted with a Her-2 cleavage-inhibiting amount of an ADAMinhibitor, inhibiting cleavage of and thereby inhibiting growth of acell overexpressing Her-2. ADAM inhibitors are discussed in greaterdetail elsewhere herein. In some embodiments of the invention, thegrowth of a tumor cell is inhibited.

The present invention also provides methods for affecting any cellexpressing Her-2. Such methods affect a Her-2-expressing cell by way ofADAM whereby the interaction between the ADAM and Her-2 is enhanced orinhibited, thereby affecting the ADAM-mediated cleavage of Her-2.Because the cleavage of Her-2 by ADAM produces p95, which is believed toplay a role in cell growth and differentiation, methods affecting aHer-2-expressing cell by way of ADAM whereby the interaction betweenADAM and Her-2 is enhanced or inhibited, are useful for stimulating orinhibiting cell growth and/or differentiation. This effect is especiallyuseful in a cell where there is underexpression of Her-2, and/or wheregreater expression of Her-2, increased level of p95, or greater ADAMexpression or function is desired as would be understood by the skilledartisan based upon the disclosure provided herein.

The invention also includes methods of affecting the growth of a celloverexpressing Her-2. In the method, a Her-2 overexpressing cell iscontacted with a Her-2 cleavage-inhibiting amount of an ADAM inhibitor,inhibiting production of p95, and thereby inhibiting growth of a celloverexpressing Her-2. ADAM inhibitors are discussed in greater detailelsewhere herein, and based on the disclosure herein, one of skill inthe art will understand that an ADAM inhibitor of the invention mayinhibit the ADAM-mediated cleavage of Her-2 by interacting with ADAM,Her-2, or both.

In another embodiment of the invention, the proliferation of a celloverexpressing Her-2 is affected. In the method, a Her-2 overexpressingcell is contacted with a Her-2 cleavage-inhibiting amount of an ADAMinhibitor, inhibiting cleavage of Her-2 by ADAM and thereby inhibitingproliferation of a cell overexpressing Her-2. Such method is useful forinhibition of proliferation of tumor cells because these cells canoverexpress Her-2 while normal, non-tumor cells, typically do not. Inthis way, the invention provides a selective method for inhibiting tumorcell growth while not affecting normal cells which would otherwise beaffected by anti-tumor methods.

The present invention also provides a method of inducing the death of aHer-2 overexpressing cell. In the method, a Her-2 overexpressing cell iscontacted with a Her-2 cleavage-inhibiting amount of an ADAM inhibitor,inhibiting cleavage of Her-2 by ADAM and thereby inducing death of acell overexpressing Her-2. Such methods would be useful where not onlyinhibition of proliferation is desired, but where cells that arepresent, but may no longer be proliferating, are to be destroyed.

The invention also provides a method for inhibiting signal transductionin a cell, wherein the signal transduction is mediated via a Her-2receptor on a Her-2 overexpressing cell. The method of the inventioncomprises contacting a Her-2 overexpressing cell with a Her-2cleavage-inhibiting amount of an ADAM inhibitor. Inhibition of theADAM-mediated cleavage of Her-2 inhibits a signal transduction pathwaythat is mediated by the Her-2 receptor. This is because the productionof p95, which is a constitutively-active kinase which constitutivelytransmits the signal otherwise non-constitutively regulated via theHer-2 receptor, is inhibited. In some embodiments, a mitogen-activatedprotein (MAP) kinase pathway is inhibited. In some embodiments, aprotein kinase B (AKT) pathway is inhibited.

In yet another aspect of the invention, the phosphorylation of anextracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) is inhibited, leading toinhibition of a Her-2 receptor-mediated signal transduction pathway. Inanother aspect of the invention, the phosphorylation of a protein kinaseB (AKT) is inhibited, leading to inhibition of a Her-2 receptor-mediatedsignal transduction pathway. This is because the data disclosed hereindemonstrate that these various pathways are regulated by transduction ofa signal via the Her-2 receptor. Thus, by inhibiting transduction of asignal via a Her-2 receptor by inhibiting production of the constitutivesignal transducing portion of Her-2, i.e., p95, inhibition of thedownstream pathways can be effected. Since p95 upregulates thesepathways, inhibiting p95 will downregulate them such that the presentinvention provides effective methods for doing so.

The present invention also provides a method of inhibiting tumor growthof a Her-2 overexpressing tumor. In the method, a Her-2 overexpressingtumor is contacted with an effective amount of an ADAM inhibitor. Suchmethods would be useful in the treatment of cancer.

Methods of Treatment

The present invention provides a method for the treatment of cancer byadministering to a patient afflicted with the cancer, or likely to beafflicted with the cancer, a therapeutically effective amount of an ADAMinhibitor. Further provided herein are methods of treating cancer in apatient by inhibiting cleavage of Her-2 expressed in the cancer. Furtherprovided herein are methods of treating cancer in a patient byinhibiting formation of p95 in the cancer. The present invention furtherprovides methods of treating cancer in a patient by inhibiting the Her-2cleaving activity of an ADAM expressed in the cancer.

The present invention further provides a method for inhibitingmetastasis of cancer by administering to a patient afflicted with thecancer a therapeutically effective amount of an ADAM inhibitor. Furtherprovided herein are methods for inhibiting metastasis of cancer in apatient by inhibiting cleavage of Her-2 expressed in the cancer. Furtherprovided herein are methods of inhibiting metastasis of cancer in apatient by inhibiting formation of p95 in the cancer. The presentinvention further provides methods of inhibiting metastasis of cancer ina patient by inhibiting the Her-2 cleaving activity of an ADAM expressedin the cancer.

The present invention further provides a method for inhibiting tumorgrowth by administering to a patient afflicted with the tumor atherapeutically effective amount of an ADAM inhibitor. Further providedherein are methods for inhibiting tumor growth in a patient byinhibiting cleavage of Her-2 expressed in the tumor. Further providedherein are methods for inhibiting tumor growth in a patient byinhibiting formation of p95 in the tumor. The present invention furtherprovides methods for inhibiting tumor growth in a patient by inhibitingthe Her-2 cleaving activity of an ADAM expressed in the tumor.

In some embodiments, the ADAM inhibitor is an inhibitor of ADAM10 orADAM15. In further embodiments, the ADAM inhibitor is an MPI. In yetfurther embodiments, the ADAM inhibitor is an MPI that is selective foran ADAM. In yet further embodiments, the ADAM inhibitor is an MPI thatis selective for ADAM10 or ADAM15.

In some embodiments, the ADAM inhibitor inhibits cleavage of Her-2 invivo.

In some embodiments, the ADAM inhibitor is administered in combinationwith a further pharmaceutical agent such as an antibody,antiproliferative agent, or cytoxin. Example antibodies includeanti-Her-2 antibodies such as Herceptin™ (Trastuzumab), 2C4, 4D5,HER-50, HER-66, HER-70 (available from Genentech or UT SouthwesternMedical School) and the like. Example antibodies further includeanti-EGFR-1 antibodies including, for example, IMC-C225 (Imclone),ABX-EGF (Abgenix), and the like. Further example antibodies includeanti-VEGF antibodies. Example antiproliferative agents include epidermalgrowth factor inhibitors (e.g., OSI-774 (OSI/Genetech), PKI-116(Novartis), or EKB-569 (Wyeth)), Her-2 inhibitors (e.g., CP-6545777(Pfizer) or GW572016 (Glaxo Smith Kline)), dual EGFR-1/Her-2 inhibitors(GW2016 (GlaxoSmithKline) or C1-1033 (Pfizer)), Met kinase inhibitors,MEK-1 kinase inhibitors, MAPK kinase inhibitors, PI3 inhibitors, Srckinase inhibitors, PDGF inhibitors, inhibitors of integrin signaling,and inhibitors of insulin-like growth factor receptors, and smallmolecules such as ZD6474 and SU6668. Example cytotoxins includechemotherapeutics such as Taxol™, Cisplatin™ and the like. Othersuitable antibodies, antiproliferative agents and cytotoxins areprovided elsewhere herein.

Cancers treatable by this method include those that overexpress Her-2.In some embodiments, treatable cancers include those that overexpressHer-2 and exhibit Her-2 cleavage to form p95 and free extracellulardomain (ECD). Non-limiting examples of cancers include breast cancer,ovarian cancer, pancreatic cancer, non-small cell lung cancer, coloncancer, prostate cancer, gastric cancer, glioma, and the like. In someembodiments, the cancer is breast cancer.

As used herein, the term “individual” or “patient,” usedinterchangeably, refers to any animal, including mammals, preferablymice, rats, other rodents, rabbits, dogs, cats, swine, cattle, sheep,horses, or primates, and most preferably humans.

As used herein, the phrase “therapeutically effective amount” refers tothe amount of active compound (e.g., MPI) that elicits the biological ormedicinal response in a tissue, system, animal, individual or human thatis being sought by a researcher, veterinarian, medical doctor or otherclinician, which includes one or more of the following:

(1) preventing the disease; for example, preventing a disease, conditionor disorder in an individual that may be predisposed to the disease,condition or disorder but does not yet experience or display thepathology or symptomatology of the disease;

(2) inhibiting the disease; for example, inhibiting a disease, conditionor disorder in an individual that is experiencing or displaying thepathology or symptomatology of the disease, condition or disorder (i.e.,arresting further development of the pathology and/or symptomatology);and

(3) ameliorating the disease; for example, ameliorating a disease,condition or disorder in an individual that is experiencing ordisplaying the pathology or symptomatology of the disease, condition ordisorder (i.e., reversing the pathology and/or symptomatology).

As used herein, the phrase “in combination with” means that the two ormore pharmaceutical agents are administered either at the same time orwithin at least about 24 hours, preferably at least about 12 hours, morepreferably, at least about 6 hours, even more most preferably, at leastabout 3 hours, yet more preferably, about 1 hour, and even morepreferably, less than about 1 hour.

Pharmaceutical Formulations and Dosage Forms

When employed as pharmaceuticals, MPIs can be administered in the formof pharmaceutical compositions. These compositions can be administeredby a variety of routes including oral, rectal, transdermal,subcutaneous, intravenous, intramuscular, and intranasal, and can beprepared in a manner well known in the pharmaceutical art.

This invention also includes pharmaceutical compositions which contain,as the active ingredient, one or more MPIs in combination with one ormore pharmaceutically acceptable carriers. In making the compositions ofthe invention, the active ingredient is typically mixed with anexcipient, diluted by an excipient or enclosed within such a carrier inthe form of, for example, a capsule, sachet, paper, or other container.When the excipient serves as a diluent, it can be a solid, semi-solid,or liquid material, which acts as a vehicle, carrier or medium for theactive ingredient. Thus, the compositions can be in the form of tablets,pills, powders, lozenges, sachets, cachets, elixirs, suspensions,emulsions, solutions, syrups, aerosols (as a solid or in a liquidmedium), ointments containing, for example, up to 10% by weight of theactive compound, soft and hard gelatin capsules, suppositories, sterileinjectable solutions, and sterile packaged powders.

In preparing a formulation, the active compound can be milled to providethe appropriate particle size prior to combining with the otheringredients. If the active compound is substantially insoluble, it canbe milled to a particle size of less than 200 mesh. If the activecompound is substantially water soluble, the particle size can beadjusted by milling to provide a substantially uniform distribution inthe formulation, e.g. about 40 mesh.

Some examples of suitable excipients include lactose, dextrose, sucrose,sorbitol, mannitol, starches, gum acacia, calcium phosphate, alginates,tragacanth, gelatin, calcium silicate, microcrystalline cellulose,polyvinylpyrrolidone, cellulose, water, syrup, and methyl cellulose. Theformulations can additionally include: lubricating agents such as talc,magnesium stearate, and mineral oil; wetting agents; emulsifying andsuspending agents; preserving agents such as methyl- andpropylhydroxy-benzoates; sweetening agents; and flavoring agents. Thecompositions of the invention can be formulated so as to provide quick,sustained or delayed release of the active ingredient afteradministration to the patient by employing procedures known in the art.

The compositions can be formulated in a unit dosage form, each dosagecontaining from about 5 to about 100 mg, more usually about 10 to about30 mg, of the active ingredient. The term “unit dosage forms” refers tophysically discrete units suitable as unitary dosages for human subjectsand other mammals, each unit containing a predetermined quantity ofactive material calculated to produce the desired therapeutic effect, inassociation with a suitable pharmaceutical excipient.

The active compound can be effective over a wide dosage range and isgenerally administered in a pharmaceutically effective amount. It willbe understood, however, that the amount of the compound actuallyadministered will usually be determined by a physician, according to therelevant circumstances, including the condition to be treated, thechosen route of administration, the actual compound administered, theage, weight, and response of the individual patient, the severity of thepatient's symptoms, and the like.

For preparing solid compositions such as tablets, the principal activeingredient is mixed with a pharmaceutical excipient to form a solidpreformulation composition containing a homogeneous mixture of acompound of the present invention. When referring to thesepreformulation compositions as homogeneous, the active ingredient istypically dispersed evenly throughout the composition so that thecomposition can be readily subdivided into equally effective unit dosageforms such as tablets, pills and capsules. This solid preformulation isthen subdivided into unit dosage forms of the type described abovecontaining from, for example, 0.1 to about 500 mg of the activeingredient of the present invention.

The tablets or pills of the present invention can be coated or otherwisecompounded to provide a dosage form affording the advantage of prolongedaction. For example, the tablet or pill can comprise an inner dosage andan outer dosage component, the latter being in the form of an envelopeover the former. The two components can be separated by an enteric layerwhich serves to resist disintegration in the stomach and permit theinner component to pass intact into the duodenum or to be delayed inrelease. A variety of materials can be used for such enteric layers orcoatings, such materials including a number of polymeric acids andmixtures of polymeric acids with such materials as shellac, cetylalcohol, and cellulose acetate.

The liquid forms in which the compounds and compositions of the presentinvention can be incorporated for administration orally or by injectioninclude aqueous solutions, suitably flavored syrups, aqueous or oilsuspensions, and flavored emulsions with edible oils such as cottonseedoil, sesame oil, coconut oil, or peanut oil, as well as elixirs andsimilar pharmaceutical vehicles.

Compositions for inhalation or insufflation include solutions andsuspensions in pharmaceutically acceptable, aqueous or organic solvents,or mixtures thereof, and powders. The liquid or solid compositions maycontain suitable pharmaceutically acceptable excipients as describedsupra. In some embodiments, the compositions are administered by theoral or nasal respiratory route for local or systemic effect.Compositions in can be nebulized by use of inert gases. Nebulizedsolutions may be breathed directly from the nebulizing device or thenebulizing device can be attached to a face masks tent, or intermittentpositive pressure breathing machine. Solution, suspension, or powdercompositions can be administered orally or nasally from devices whichdeliver the formulation in an appropriate manner.

The amount of compound or composition administered to a patient willvary depending upon what is being administered, the purpose of theadministration, such as prophylaxis or therapy, the state of thepatient, the manner of administration, and the like. In therapeuticapplications, compositions can be administered to a patient alreadysuffering from a disease in an amount sufficient to cure or at leastpartially arrest the symptoms of the disease and its complications.Effective doses will depend on the disease condition being treated aswell as by the judgement of the attending clinician depending uponfactors such as the severity of the disease, the age, weight and generalcondition of the patient, and the like.

The compositions administered to a patient can be in the form ofpharmaceutical compositions described above. These compositions can besterilized by conventional sterilization techniques, or may be sterilefiltered. Aqueous solutions can be packaged for use as is, orlyophilized, the lyophilized preparation being combined with a sterileaqueous carrier prior to administration. The ply of the compoundpreparations typically will be between 3 and 11, more preferably from 5to 9 and most preferably from 7 to 8. It will be understood that use ofcertain of the foregoing excipients, carriers, or stabilizers willresult in the formation of pharmaceutical salts.

The therapeutic dosage of the compounds of the present invention canvary according to, for example, the particular use for which thetreatment is made, the manner of administration of the compound, thehealth and condition of the patient, and the judgment of the prescribingphysician. The proportion or concentration of a compound of theinvention in a pharmaceutical composition can vary depending upon anumber of factors including dosage, chemical characteristics (e.g.,hydrophobicity), and the route of administration. For example, thecompounds of the invention can be provided in an aqueous physiologicalbuffer solution containing about 0.1 to about 10% w/v of the compoundfor parenteral administration. Some typical dose ranges are from about 1μg/kg to about 1 g/kg of body weight per day. In some embodiments, thedose range is from about 0.01 mg/kg to about 100 mg/kg of body weightper day. The dosage is likely to depend on such variables as the typeand extent of progression of the disease or disorder, the overall healthstatus of the particular patient, the relative biological efficacy ofthe compound selected, formulation of the excipient, and its route ofadministration. Effective doses can be extrapolated from dose-responsecurves derived from in vitro or animal model test systems.

Methods of Identifying a Useful Compound Relating to Inhibiting Cleavageof Her-2 by ADAM10 and ADAM15

The present invention also includes a method of identifying a compoundcapable of affecting the interaction of ADAM10, 15, or both, with Her-2.The method comprises contacting a first reaction mixture containingHer-2 and an ADAM10, 15, or both, with a test compound, then assayingthe first reaction mixture for the appearance of p95. A lower level ofp95 in the first reaction mixture, when compared with a second reactionmixture containing Her-2 and ADAM10, 15, or both, without the testcompound, is indicative of a compound capable of affecting theinteraction of ADAM10, 15, or both, with Her-2. Such a compound isdefined herein as inhibiting the interaction of ADAM10, 15, or both,with Her-2, as the lower level of p95 is indicative of a decreasedproteolysis of Her-2 by ADAM. The invention includes any compoundidentified by the methods disclosed herein.

The invention encompasses a method of identifying a compound thatinhibits cleavage of Her-2. The method comprises contacting an ADAM witha test compound in a mixture comprising a known ADAM substrate. Suchsubstrates are well known in the art and include various peptides knownto be cleaved by ADAM under known reaction conditions. Thus, one skilledin the art, based upon the disclosure provided herein, would appreciatethat since it is now known, for the first time, that ADAM10 and ADAM15specifically cleave Her-2, the ability of a test compound to inhibitcleavage of Her-2 can be assayed by assessing the ability of thecompound to inhibit the cleavage of a known substrate by either one, orboth, of these ADAMs. Therefore, a wide plethora of art-recognizedassays for assessing the activity of ADAM10, ADAM15, or both, can beused to identify a useful compound that can inhibit cleavage of Her-2 bythose enzymes. More specifically, the cleavage of a known ADAM (10, 15or both) can be assessed in the absence of a test compound. The cleavageof the same substrate can be assessed, under identical conditions, inthe absence of the test compound. The cleavage of the substrate in thepresence or absence of the compound can then be compared. One skilled inthe art would understand that where there is detectably less cleavage ofthe substrate in the presence of the compound compared with the level ofcleavage of the substrate in the absence of the compound, the compoundinhibits ADAM cleavage of its substrate. Accordingly, the skilledartisan would appreciate, armed with the teachings provided herein, thatbecause the data disclosed herein demonstrate that ADAM, morespecifically, ADAM10 and ADAM15, mediate cleavage of Her-2, a substancethat inhibits cleavage of a substrate by ADAM10, ADAM15, or both, willalso inhibit cleavage of Her-2 by ADAM10. ADAM15, or both. Thus, theinvention encompasses a useful assay for identifying useful inhibitorsof Her-2 cleavage. These compounds are useful in that it is known thatHer-2 cleavage by ADAM mediates a deleterious effect, most likelymediated by the production of the p95 portion of Her-2. Without wishingto be bound by any particular theory, regardless of the mechanismwhereby inhibition of Her-2 cleavage mediates various effects oncellular processes, as demonstrated by the data disclosed herein, theusefulness of a compound that inhibits cleavage of Her-2 mediated byADAM10, ADAM15, or both, is amply demonstrated by the data disclosedherein. The invention encompasses a compound identified using thismethod.

The present invention also includes a method of identifying a compoundcapable of affecting the interaction of ADAM10, 15, or both, with Her-2.The method comprises contacting a first reaction mixture containingHer-2 and ADAM with a test compound, then assaying the first reactionmixture for the appearance of ECD105. A lower level of ECD105 in thefirst reaction mixture, when compared with a second reaction mixturecontaining Her-2 and ADAM10, 15, or both, without the test compound, isindicative of a compound capable of affecting the interaction of ADAM10,15, or both, with Her-2. Such a compound is defined herein as inhibitingthe interaction of ADAM10, 15, or both, with Her-2, as the lower levelof ECD105 is indicative of a decreased proteolysis of Her-2 by ADAM10,15, or both. The invention includes any compound identified by themethods disclosed herein.

In an embodiment of the invention, compounds capable of inhibiting theADAM10, 15, or both, -mediated cleavage of Her-2 to form p95 and ECD105are identified. A person skilled in the art will realize, based upon thedisclosure provided herein, that purified full-length ADAM10 or ADAM15,truncated forms of ADAM10 or ADAM15 retaining the metalloproteasedomain, or conditioned media containing soluble forms of recombinantADAM10 or ADAM15 that retain the metalloproteinase domains, can beassayed using any of a variety of protease assays. ADAM10 or ADAM15 canbe assayed through the use of peptide substrates encompassing thenatural cleavage site of Her-2 or other known substrates for sheddases,including but not limited to: APP, Notch, delta, TNF-alpha, TGF-alpha,HB-EGF, CSF-1, nerve growth factor receptor, hepatocyte growth factorreceptor Met, neuregulin, fractalkine, collagen and gelatin. Assayformats for detecting cleavage of a substrate by ADAM10 or ADAM15, orboth, could include, but are not limited to, tagging the substrate witha fluorescent group on one side of the cleavage site and with afluorescence-quenching group on the opposite side of the cleavage site.Upon cleavage, these fluorogenic peptide substrates provide a detectablesignal. Generation of a cleaved product could be assayed usingneo-epitope antibodies that recognized the newly generated N- orC-termini. In this latter case, assay formats could include fluorescencepolarization (Levine et al., 1997, Anal. Biochem. 247:83-88) or HTRF(Preaudator et al., 2002, J. Biomol. Screen. 7:267-274). Alternatively,the substrate can be tagged with a calorimetric leaving group that morestrongly absorbs upon cleavage.

In an aspect of the invention, a compound identified by a method of thepresent invention, which compound is capable of inhibiting theADAM-mediated cleavage of Her-2 for from p95 and ECD105, is recited inFIGS. 6 through 10. In another aspect of the present invention, acompound identified by a method of the present invention, which compoundis capable of inhibiting the ADAM-mediated cleavage of Her-2 for fromp95 and ECD105, includes(6S,7S)-N-hydroxy-5-methyl-6-[(4-phenylpiperidin-1-yl)carbonyl]-5-azaspiro[2.5]octane-7-carboxamide,(6S,7S)-N-hydroxy-5-methyl-6-[(4-phenyl-3,6-dihydropyridin-1(2H)-yl)carbonyl]-5-azaspiro[2.5]octane-7-carboxamide,(6S,7S)-N-Hydroxy-6-{-[(3-phenylpyrrolidin-1-yl]carbonyl}-5-azaspiro[2.5]octane-7-carboxamide,(6S,7S)-N-hydroxy-6-((4-(methylsulfonyl)phenyl)-3,6-dihydropyridin-1(2H)-yl)carbonyl)-5-azaspiro(2,5)octane-carboxamide,(2S,3S)-N-hydroxyl-1-methyl-2-((10aS)-3,4,10,10a-tetrahydropyrazino(1,2-a)indol-2(1H)-yl-carbonyl)piperidine-3-carboxamide,(6S,7S)-N-hydroxy-6-((10aS)-3,4,10,10a-tetrahydropyrazino(1,2-a)-indol-2(1H)-yl-carbonyl)-5-azaspiro(2,5)octane-7-carboxamide,(6S,7S)-N-hydroxy-6-((4-(3-(methylsulfonyl)phenyl)-3,6-dihydropyridin-1(2H)-yl)carbonyl)-5-azaspiro(2,5)octane-7-carboxamide,methyl(6S,7S)-7-[(hydroxyamino)carbonyl]-6-[(4-phenyl-3,6-dihydropyridin-1(2H)-yl)carbonyl]-5-azaspiro[2.5]octane-5-carboxylate,benzyl(6S,7S)-7-[(hydroxyamino)carbonyl]-6-[(4-phenyl-3,6-dihydropyridin-1(2H)-yl)carbonyl]-5-azaspiro[2.5]octane-5-carboxylate,(6S,7S)-N-Hydroxy-5-(methylsulfonyl)-6-[(4-phenyl-3,6-dihydropyridin-1(2H)-yl)carbonyl]-5-azaspiro[2.5]octane-7-carboxamide,and(6S,7S)-N-hydroxy-6-{[4-(3-methoxyphenyl)piperidin-1-yl]carbonyl}-5-methyl-5-azaspiro[2.5]octane-7-carboxamide,each of which can be prepared according to the methods described in U.S.Ser. No. 60/534,501 the disclosure of which is incorporated herein byreference in its entirety.

The present invention therefore also includes a method of identifying acompound capable of enhancing the interaction of ADAM with Her-2. Themethod comprises contacting a first reaction mixture containing Her-2and ADAM10, 15, or both, with a test compound, then assaying the firstreaction mixture for the appearance of p95. A higher level of p95 in thefirst reaction mixture, when compared with a second reaction mixturecontaining Her-2 and ADAM without the test compound, is indicative of acompound capable of enhancing the interaction of ADAM with Her-2. Such acompound is defined herein as enhancing the interaction of ADAM withHer-2, as the higher level of p95 is indicative of an increased cleavageof Her-2 by ADAM. The invention includes any compound identified by thismethod.

Synergism of MPIs with Other Pharmaceutical Agents

Method of Synergistically Affecting a Tumor Cell

Advantageously, the present invention provides a method for thesynergistic treatment of cancer in that the data disclosed hereindemonstrate, for the first time, a novel synergistic method forinhibiting the growth and/or for inducing the death of a tumor cell thatover-expresses Her-2, such as that found in many cancers, includingbreast, ovarian, prostate, non-small cell lung, colon, glioma,pancreatic cancers and the like. The methods disclosed herein compriseadministering a synergistically effective Her-2 inhibiting amount of atleast one MPI that inhibits cleavage of Her-2, and at least one of thefollowing synergistic agents: (1) an antibody that antagonizesHer-2-mediated cell growth, and, optionally, (2) a cytotoxic agent,and/or (3) an inhibitor of a member of the EGFR tyrosine kinase family.By the term “synergistic agent” is meant any compound or substanceincluding, for example proteins, nucleic acids, and small molecules,that show synergism with an MPI. In some embodiments, the methodsinvolve administering a synergistically effective amount of at least oneMPI that inhibits cleavage of Her-2 and one or more of a synergisticagent selected from an antibody, cytotoxin, and EGFR tyrosine kinaseinhibitor. In further embodiments, the methods involve administering asynergistically effective amount of at least one MPI that inhibitscleavage of Her-2 and at least one antibody. In further embodiments, themethods involve administering a synergistically effective amount of atleast one MPI that inhibits cleavage of Her-2, at least one antibody,and at least one antiproliferative agent. In further embodiments, themethods involve administering a synergistically effective amount of atleast one MPI that inhibits cleavage of Her-2, at least one antibody,and at least one small molecule inhibitor of EGFR-1. In furtherembodiments, the methods involve administering a synergisticallyeffective amount of at least one MPI that inhibits cleavage of Her-2 andat least one antiproliferative agent. In further embodiments, themethods involve administering a synergistically effective amount of atleast one MPI that inhibits cleavage of Her-2 and at least onecytotoxin. In further embodiments, the methods involve administering asynergistically effective amount of at least one MPI that inhibitscleavage of Her-2, at least one cytotoxin, and at least oneantiproliferative agent.

Unexpectedly, it has been found that the use of: (1) at least one MPIthat inhibits cleavage of Her-2, where such cleavage mediated release ofECD thereby producing a p95 “stub” that remains associated with thecell, and (2) an antibody that antagonizes Her-2 mediated cell growth,such as Herceptin™, provides a synergistic effect causing growthinhibition of the cell such that less antibody can be administered tomediate the same growth inhibiting effect as a higher amount of the sameantibody. Further, the addition of at least one inhibitor of a member ofthe EGFR tyrosine kinase family, further enhances the cytostatic effectof Herceptin™, and/or the inhibitor such that, among other things,inhibition of cell growth and proliferation is induced using much lower,i.e., one to two logs, amounts of the antibody than when the antibody isused in the absence of the MPI. Similarly, when the MPI is administeredto a cell in the presence of the antagonistic antibody and in thefurther presence of a cytotoxic agent (e.g., Taxol™), cell death isinduced using a much lower amount of the antibody and/or the cytotoxicagent than when the antibody or the cytotoxic agent is used in theabsence of the MPI. For instance, the data surprisingly demonstrate thatabout 10-100-fold less antagonistic antibody was required in thepresence of the MPI than when the antibody was used without the MPI tomediate the same effect. Similarly, the data demonstrate that lesscytototic agent (e.g., Taxol) was required when it was administered withthe antibody and the MPI than when it was administered to a cell in theabsence of the combination of an antibody and an MPI.

Further, the invention relates to the novel discovery that the proteasethat cleaves Her-2 to produce the p95 stub is and ADAM polypeptide suchas, for example, ADAM10 or ADAM15, such that the invention relates tousing an MPI that inhibits ADAM (e.g., ADAM10, ADAM15, or both) in thesynergistic methods set forth herein. While the invention is not limitedto any particular MPI, some embodiments of the invention involve MPIsthat inhibit ADAM10, ADAM15, or both.

With or without the cytotoxic compound or an inhibitor of a EGFRtyrosine kinase family member, co-administration of acleavage-inhibiting MPI and a Her-2 antagonistic antibody provides asurprising synergistic effect such that a much lower amount of theantibody mediates a cytostatic, growth-inhibiting effect in a Her-2overexpressing cell than when the antibody is administered in theabsence of the MPI. Therefore, the disclosure provided herein provides asignificant improvement in therapeutics based on administration of aHer-2 antagonistic antibody. This is because it is well-known in the artthat methods relating to administration of, for example, Herceptin™ aregreatly hindered by the small amount of antibody that reaches the tumorcell, thereby greatly reducing the therapeutic benefit derived from suchantibody-based therapy. Thus, the methods disclosed herein overcome along-standing obstacle in the art of antibody-based tumor therapy.

Thus, the skilled artisan would appreciate, based on the disclosureprovided herein, that antibody-based cell therapy, wherein a cytostatic(i.e., growth inhibiting), cytotoxic (i.e., cell death), or both, effectis desired, is greatly improved by administering a Her-2cleavage-inhibiting MPI in concert with a Her-2 antagonistic antibody.Additionally, where a cytotoxic (i.e., cell killing) effect is desired,the cytotoxic effect of an agent is synergistically enhanced byadministering the cytotoxic agent (encompassing a wide plethora ofcompounds including, but not limited to, Taxol) in concert with a Her-2cleavage-inhibiting MPI and a Her-2 antagonistic antibody. Thus, thesurprising synergistic effect provided by co-administering a Her-2antagonistic antibody and a Her-2 cleavage-inhibiting MPI providesvastly improved cytotoxic cell therapy where cell death is desired usinga cytotoxic compound in concert with the antibody and the MPI.

Further, the data disclosed herein demonstrate that the synergisticanti-tumor effect is also observed when an MPI and an antibody areadministered in conjunction with an inhibitor of a member of the EGFRtyrosine kinase family (e.g., Iressa). Thus, the synergistic anti-tumoreffect is surprisingly mediated even where the inhibitor is not known todirectly affect Her-2 and/or its processing.

Thus, a small molecule inhibitor specific for an EGFR tyrosine kinasefamily member, exemplified by EGFR-1, also mediates a synergisticcytostatic cell growth inhibiting effect when administered withHerceptin™ and an MPI, and one skilled in the art would understand,based on this surprising data, that the compounds that can beadministered with the MPI and antibody include, but are not limited to,molecules and compounds that in any form or shape, act to antagonizetumor formation, progression and maintenance, or any related biologicalprocesses. Examples of these agents include, but are not limited to,antiproliferative agents such as other epidermal growth factorinhibitors, Her-2 inhibitors, Met kinase inhibitors, MEK-1 kinaseinhibitors, MAPK kinase inhibitors, PI3 inhibitors, Src kinaseinhibitors, PDGF inhibitors, inhibitors of integrin signaling, andinhibitors of insulin-like growth factor receptors and any poly- andmono-clonal antibodies antagonizing the abovekinases/receptors/signaling pathways; antiangiogenesis agents such asother metalloproteinase inhibitors, and anti-VEGF antibodies and smallmolecules such as ZD6474 and SU6668.

Antiproliferative agents also include agents that are used as hormonaltreatment. Examples of such agents include, but are not limited to,Casodex™ (also referred to as bicalutamide, AstraZeneca), which rendersandrogen-dependent carcinomas non-proliferative and antiestrogenTamoxifen, which inhibits the proliferation or growth of estrogendependent breast cancer. Examples also include, but are not limited to,natural substances, vaccines, antisense oligonucleotides, ribozymes, RNAinterferences and gene therapies that are known in the art and as willbe developed in the future to treat Her-2 over-expressing and othermalignancies.

The skilled artisan would appreciate that that present inventionencompasses administration of more than one Her-2 cleavage inhibitingMPI and/or antagonistic antibody, and is not limited to any particularMPI or antibody. Moreover, the invention encompasses administration ofany cytotoxic agent, any inhibitor set forth elsewhere herein (e.g., aninhibitor of an EGFR tyrosine kinase family member, among others), andthe like, in any combination or permutation thereof.

One skilled in the art could readily establish, based upon the teachingsprovided herein, whether an antibody, an MPI, or any other inhibitor orsubstance of interest, or any combination thereof, when administered toa Her-2 overexpressing cell, mediate the desired synergistic effectdisclosed herein. This is because, as exemplified herein, methods forassessing whether (1) a cell overexpresses Her-2, (2) a MPI inhibitscleavage of Her-2, (3) an antibody antagonizes cell growth in the Her-2overexpressing cell, and (4) the combination of the antagonisticantibody with the MPI reduces the amount of antibody that must beadministered to achieve the same level of Her-2 cleavage inhibition,which, in turn, mediates the desired effect (e.g., inhibition of cellgrowth and division and/or promoting cell death) are disclosed hereinand/or are well-known in the art. Accordingly, following the teachingsprovided herein, the routineer can mediate desired cell growthinhibition and/or cytotoxicity using a wide plethora of combinationscomprising at least one antibody that specifically binds with Her-2 andat least one MPI, with or without an additional compound, and anypermutation thereof.

The present invention provides methods for the synergistic treatment ofa variety of diseases or disorders mediated by a Her-2 overexpressingcell, including, but not limited to, cancer such as breast cancer,ovarian cancer, prostate cancer, glioma, pancreatic cancer, coloncancer, non-small cell lung cancer and the like. This is because,advantageously, the synergistic method of this invention reduces thegrowth and/or viability of a tumor cell overexpressing Her-2, therebyreducing tumor burden, producing tumor regression, or both.

In general, numerous synergistic agents can be administered in acombination with an MPI including, for example, anti-neoplastic agents.As used herein, the phrase “anti-neoplastic agent” is synonymous with“chemotherapeutic agent” and refers to compounds that prevent cancercells from multiplying (i.e. anti-proliferative agents). In general, theanti-neoplastic agent(s) of this invention fall into two classes,cytotoxic and cytostatic agents. Without wishing to be bound by anyparticular theory, cytotoxic agents prevent cancer cells frommultiplying by: (1) interfering with the ability of the cell toreplicate DNA and (2) inducing cell death and/or apoptosis in the cancercells. Cytostatic or quiescent agents act via modulating, interfering orinhibiting the processes of cellular signal transduction which regulatecell proliferation.

Classes of compounds that may be used as cytotoxic agents include thefollowing:

Alkylating agents (including, without limitation, nitrogen mustards,ethylenimine derivatives, alkyl sulfonates, nitrosoureas and triazenes):Uracil mustard, Chlormethine, Cyclophosphamide (Cytoxan™), Ifosfamide,Melphalan, Chlorambucil, Pipobroman, Triethylene-melamine,Triethylenethiophosphoramine, Busulfan, Carmustine, Lomustine,Streptozocin, Dacarbazine, and Temozolomide.

Antimetabolites (including, without limitation, folic acid antagonists,pyrimidine analogs, purine analogs and adenosine deaminase inhibitors):Methotrexate, 5-Fluorouracil, Floxuridine, Cytarabine, 6-Mercaptopurine,6-Thioguanine, Fludarabine phosphate, Pentostatine, and Gemcitabine.

Natural products and their derivatives (for example, vinca alkaloids,antitumor antibiotics, enzymes, lymphokines and epipodophyllotoxins):Vinblastine, Vincristine, Vindesine, Bleomycin, Dactinomycin,Daunorubicin, Doxorubicin, Epirubicin, Idarubicin, Ara-C, paclitaxel(paclitaxel is commercially available as Taxol™), Mithramycin,Deoxyco-formycin, Mitomycin-C, L-Asparaginase, Interferons (especiallyIFN-a), Etoposide, and Teniposide.

Other cytotoxic agents are navelbene, CPT-11, anastrazole, letrazole,capecitabine, reloxafine, cyclophosphamide, ifosamide, and droloxafine.

Microtubule affecting agents interfere with cellular mitosis and arewell known in the art for their cytotoxic activity. Microtubuleaffecting agents useful in the invention include, but are not limitedto, allocolchicine (NSC 406042), Halichondrin B (NSC 609395), colchicine(NSC 757), colchicine derivatives (e.g., NSC 33410), dolastatin 10 (NSC376128), maytansine (NSC 153858), rhizoxin (NSC 332598), paclitaxel(Taxol™, NSC 125973), Taxol™ derivatives (e.g., derivatives NSC 608832),thiocolchicine NSC 361792), trityl cysteine (NSC 83265), vinblastinesulfate (NSC 49842), vincristine sulfate (NSC 67574), natural andsynthetic epothilones including but not limited to epothilone A,epothilone B, and discodermolide (see Service, 1996, Science 274:2009)estramustine, nocodazole, MAP4, and the like. Examples of such agentsare also described in the scientific and patent literature, see, e.g.,Bulinski, 1997, J. Cell Sci. 110:3055-3064; Panda, 1997, Proc. Natl.Acad. Sci. USA 94:10560-10564; Muhlradt, 1997, Cancer Res. 57:3344-3346;Nicolaou, 1997, Nature 387:268-272; Vasquez, 1997, Mol. Biol. Cell.8:973-985; Panda, 1996, J. Biol. Chem. 271:29807-29812.

The term “paclitaxel” as used herein refers to the drug commerciallyavailable as Taxol™ (NSC number: 125973). Taxol™ inhibits eukaryoticcell replication by enhancing polymerization of tubulin moieties intostabilized microtubule bundles that are unable to reorganize into theproper structures for mitosis. Of the many available chemotherapeuticdrugs, paclitaxel has generated interest because of its efficacy inclinical trials against drug-refractory tumors, including ovarian andmammary gland tumors (Hawkins (1992) Oncology, 6: 17-23, Horwitz, 1992,Trends Pharmacol. Sci, 13: 134-146, Rowinsky, 1990, J. Natl. Canc. Inst.82:1247-1259).

Further example cytotoxic agents are compounds with paclitaxel-likeactivity. These include, but are not limited to, paclitaxel andpaclitaxel derivatives (paclitaxel-like compounds) and analogues.Paclitaxel and its derivatives are available commercially. In addition,methods of making paclitaxel and paclitaxel derivatives and analoguesare well known to those of skill in the art (see, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos.5,569,729; 5,565,478; 5,530,020; 5,527,924; 5,508,447; 5,489,589;5,488,116; 5,484,809; 5,478,854; 5,478,736; 5,475,120; 5,468,769;5,461,169; 5,440,057; 5,422,364; 5,411,984; 5,405,972; and 5,296,506).

Thus, cytotoxic agents which are suitable for use in the methods andcompositions of this invention include, but are not limited to,microtubule-stabilizing agents such as paclitaxel (also known as Taxol™)docetaxel (also known as Taxotere™), 7-O-methylthiomethylpaclitaxel(disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,646,176),4-desacetyl-4-methylcarbonatepaclitaxel,3′-tert-butyl-3′-N-tert-butyloxycarbonyl-4-deacetyl-3′-dephenyl-3′-N-debenzoyl-4-O-methoxycarbonyl-paclitaxel(disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,537,988), C-4 methyl carbonate paclitaxel(disclosed in WO 94/14787), epothilone A, epothilone B, epothilone C,epothilone D, desoxyepothilone A, desoxyepothilone B,[1s-[1R*,3R*(E),7R*,10S*,11R*,12R*,16S]]-7-11-dihydroxy-8,8,10,12,16-pentamethyl-3-[1-methyl-2-(2-methyl-4-thiazolyl)ethenyl]-4-aza-17oxabicyclo[14.1.0]heptadecane-5,9-dione (disclosed in WO 99/02514),[1S-[1R*,3R*(E),7R*,10S*,11R*,12R*,16S*]]-3-[2-[2-(aminomethyl)-4-thiazolyl]-1-methylethenyl]-7,1′-dihydroxy-8,8,10,12,16-pentamethyl-4-17-dioxabicyclo[14.1.0]-heptadecane-5,9-dione(disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,262,094 and 6,537,988), and derivativesthereof; and microtubule-disruptor agents.

Also suitable are cytotoxic agents such as epidophyllotoxin; anantineoplastic enzyme; a topoisomerase inhibitor; procarbazine;mitoxantrone; platinum coordination complexes such as cis-platin andcarboplatin; biological response modifiers; growth inhibitors;antihormonal therapeutic agents; leucovorin; tegafur; and haematopoieticgrowth factors.

Cytostatic agent(s), such as Herceptin™, are agents which cause cells tobecome “non-proliferative” or “quiescent.” The anti-proliferativecytostatic agent of the invention is a Her-2 antagonistic antibody, asexemplified by Herceptin™. One skilled in the art would understand,based upon the disclosure provided herein, that a Her-2 antagonisticantibody encompasses Herceptin™, but is not limited to such antibody.Rather, the present invention includes other Her-2 antagonisticantibodies, such as are known presently, including, but not limited to,anti-Her-2 antibodies (e.g., 2C4, 4D5, Trastuzumab-DMI; all availablefrom Genentech, Inc.), and anti-EGFR-1 antibodies (e.g., IMC-C225(ImClone Systems, Inc.), and ABX-EGF (Abgenix, Inc.)), or suchantagonistic antibodies as may be developed in the future.

As used herein, “cytostatic agent” is synonymous with “quiescence agent”and refers to any means of slowing the rate of cell division or tumorgrowth so that the cells become non-proliferative or so that theirbehavior approximates that of non-proliferative cells. Exemplaryanti-proliferative cytostatic or “quiescent” agents of the invention,include without limitation, Herceptin™ (also referred to astrastuzumab).

Methods for the safe and effective administration of most of thesechemotherapeutic agents are known to those skilled in the art. Inaddition, their administration is described in the standard literature.For example, the administration of many of the chemotherapeutic agentsis described in the “Physicians' Desk Reference” (PDR, e.g., 1996edition, Medical Economics Company, Montvale, N.J.), the disclosure ofwhich is incorporated herein by reference as if set forth in itsentirety.

The skilled artisan would understand, based upon the disclosure providedherein, that the amount of the Her-2 cleavage inhibiting MPI istypically such that a detectable amount of Her-2 cleavage is inhibitedwhen compared with the level of Her-2 cleavage in the cell prior toadministration of the MPI or when compared with the level of Her-2cleavage in an otherwise identical cell not to which the MPI is notadministered. Preferably, the detectable level of Her-2 cleavage isdecreased by about at least 30%, more preferably, by about at least 40%,even more preferably, by about at least 50%, yet more preferably, by atleast about 60%, preferably, by at least about 70%, even morepreferably, by at least about 80%, most preferably, by at least about90%. Even more preferably, the detectable level of Her-2 cleavage isinhibited by at least about 95%, yet more preferably, by at least about99%, and most preferably, it is inhibited by about 100%. Accordingly,although a threshold level of sheddase inhibition is required, theinhibition need not be, although it can be, complete, such that,preferably, at least 90% inhibition of cleavage of Her-2 is desired toprovide the synergistic effect when a cytostatic and/or cytotoxic agentis added.

Thus, one skilled in the art would understand, based upon the disclosureprovided herein, that the amount of MPI mediates a detectable decreasein the level of Her-2 cleavage in order to mediate a synergistic effectwhen a Her-2 antagonistic antibody is administered with the MPI. Theamount of the antagonistic antibody required will then be much less thanthe level of the antibody required to mediate the same cytostatic effectin the absence of the MPI. The synergistic amount of the MPI and theantagonist antibody can be readily determined for each Her-2overexpressing tumor cell of interest, and will vary by, among otherthings, the level of Her-2 expressed in the cell, and other parametersas are routinely assessed by those skilled in the art.

In sum, the synergistic effect achieved using the novel methods andcompositions of the present invention is greater than the sum of theeffects that result from methods and compositions comprising using thecytotoxic (e.g., Taxol™) or cytostatic agent (i.e., a Her-2 antagonisticantibody, such as, but not limited to, Herceptin™), or an inhibitor of aEGFR tyrosine kinase family (e.g., the small molecule inhibitor ofEGFR-1, Iressa™), either singly or in the absence of a Her-2 cleavageinhibiting MPI. Advantageously, such synergy between compounds allowsfor the use of smaller doses of at least one compound, provides greaterefficacy at the same doses, and/or prevents or delays the build-up ofmulti-drug resistance.

Further advantages over previously disclosed methods include the abilityof the instant combination of an MPI and at least one agent selectedfrom the group consisting of a cytostatic agent (i.e., a Her-2antagonistic antibody), an inhibitor of a EGFR tyrosine kinase family(e.g., Iressa™), and/or a cytotoxic agent (e.g., Taxol™, Cisplatin™, andthe like), to be individually varied depending on the nature of theHer-2 over-expressing cell to be treated. The data disclosed elsewhereherein indicate that the therapeutic effect of the instant compositionscan be achieved with suboptimal amount of the cytotoxic or cytostaticagent(s) and MPI than would be required if such agents and compoundswere administered individually. The novel approach disclosed herein ofcombining, among other things. Herceptin and MPI, avoids anynon-mechanism-based adverse toxicity effects which might result fromadministration of an amount of cytotoxic or cytostatic agent(s) and MPIcompounds alone sufficient to achieve the same therapeutic effect.

The instant compositions achieve a synergistic therapeutic effect andexhibit unexpected therapeutic advantage over the effect of any of thecomponent compounds or methods when administered individually. Inaddition, such combinations can effectively target proliferative cellsby providing a synergistic effect when a Her-2 cleavage-inhibiting MPIis combined with a cytostatic Her-2 inhibitor (i.e. an antagonisticantibody such as, e.g., Herceptin™) and/or with a cytotoxic agent suchas, but not limited to, Taxol™, and/or with an inhibitor of a member ofthe EGFR tyrosine kinase family.

The anti-proliferative cytostatic agent(s) (i.e., an antagonisticantibody such as, e.g., Herceptin™, an inhibitor of a member of the EGFRtyrosine kinase family, and the like) can be administered, preferably,following administration of a Her-2 cleavage-inhibiting MPI; however,the antagonist antibody can be administered to a cell simultaneouslyand/or contemporaneously with the MPI. Also, an additional agent (e.g, acytotoxic agent, an inhibitor of an EGFR tyrosine kinase family member,and the like), can be added prior to, after, or simultaneously with theantagonistic antibody, to produce a synergistic inhibition of cellgrowth (for cytostatic agents) or increasing cell death (for cytotoxicagents).

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the Her-2 cleavageinhibiting antagonistic antibody and the Her-2 cleavage inhibiting MPIare administered contemporaneously. However, the skilled artisan wouldappreciate, based upon the teachings provided herein, that the MPI canbe administered prior to administration of the antibody or other agent.

As used herein, the term “simultaneous” or “simultaneously” means thatthe MPI and antibody are administered within at least about 24 hours,preferably at least about 12 hours, more preferably, at least about 6hours, even more most preferably, at least about 3 hours, yet morepreferably, about 1 hour, and even more preferably, less than about 1hour.

Methods of Identifying a Useful Synergistic Compound

The skilled artisan would appreciate, once armed with the teachingsprovided herein, that additional synergistic agents such as, forexample, Her-2 antagonistic antibodies, useful to practice the methodsof the invention can be readily identified and isolated usingart-recognized methods for identifying agents having the desiredproperties of detectably inhibiting Her-2 mediated cell growth andfurther exhibiting a synergistic effect with a Her-2 cleavage-inhibitingMPI such that a lesser amount of the synergistic agent can inhibit thesame level of cell growth in the presence of the MPI compared with theamount of synergistic agent required to inhibit the same level of cellgrowth in the absence of the MPI.

Similarly, the present invention encompasses methods of identifyingnovel synergistic MPIs that inhibit cleavage of Her-2, and MPIsidentified using such methods. The skilled artisan would appreciate thatthe methods comprise contacting a cell overexpressing Her-2 with a testcompound, in the presence or absence of a Her-2 antagonistic antibody,such as, e.g., Herceptin. The level of inhibition of Her-2 cleavage isassessed in a cell contacted with both the test compound and theantibody and also in an otherwise identical cell contacted only with thetest compound, and in yet another otherwise identical cell contactedwith only the antibody. The level of Her-2 mediated cell growth in thethree cells is compared where a level of cell growth that is lower inthe cell contacted with both the antibody and the test compound comparedwith the level in either the cell contacted with the antibody alone orin the cell contacted with the test compound alone, or where the levelof cell growth of the cell contacted with the antibody and the testcompound is less than the sum of the level of growth of the cellcontacted with the antibody and the level of growth of the cellcontacted with the test compounded combined, is an indication that thetest compound synergistically inhibits Her-2 mediated cell growth in acell when administered with the antibody. The invention encompassescompounds identified using this method, such compounds include, but arenot limited to, those exemplified herein, e.g., Compound 5 and AG3340(Prinomastat).

The present invention encompasses methods of identifying a novelsynergistic agent that inhibits proliferation of a Her-2 over-expressingcell and any agent identified using such methods. That is, the methodscomprise contacting a cell overexpressing Her-2 with a test compound, inthe presence of a Her-2 antagonistic antibody, such as, e.g., Herceptin,and an MPI (e.g., Compound 5 and AG3340 (Prinomastat)). The level ofinhibition of proliferation is assessed in a cell contacted with boththe test compound and the antibody and MPI, in an otherwise identicalcell contacted only with the test compound, and in yet another otherwiseidentical cell contacted with only the antibody and MPI. The level ofcell growth in the three cells is compared where a lower level of cellgrowth in the cell contacted with the test compound, the antibody andthe MPI, compared with the level in either the cell contacted with theantibody and MPI, or in the cell contacted with the test compound alone,or where the level of cell growth in the cell contacted with the testcompound, the antibody and the MPI is less than the sum of the level ofcell growth in the cell contacted with the antibody and the MPI combinedwith the level of cell growth in the cell contacted with the testcompound, is an indication that the test compound synergisticallyinhibits Her-2 mediated cell growth in a cell when administered with theantibody and the MPI. The invention encompasses compounds identifiedusing this method, such compounds include, but are not limited to, thoseexemplified herein, e.g., Iressa™.

Kits

The invention further encompasses kits for the practice of the methodsdisclosed herein. That is, the invention includes various kits whichcomprise a compound, such as a nucleic acid encoding a nucleic acidcomplementary to a nucleic acid encoding a Her-2-cleaving ADAM, but inan antisense orientation with respect to transcription, a siRNA specificfor a Her-2 cleaving ADAM (e.g., ADAM10, ADAM15, or variant thereof),and/or compositions of the invention, an applicator, and instructionalmaterials which describe use of the compound to perform the methods ofthe invention. The kits relate to the novel discovery that ADAM10, andADAM15, cleave Her-2 to produce a p95 stub that remains associated witha cell and mediates and/or is associated with various conditions,diseases or disorders such that inhibiting the cleavage provides abenefit.

The kits also relate to the surprising discovery that there are splicevariants of ADAM15 detected in a cell expressing Her-2 and from whichHer-2 is shed. Indeed, the data disclosed herein demonstrate, for thefirst time, two novel variants of ADAM15, i.e., variant 1 and the evenlonger variant 2, where variant 1 appears preferentially detectable incells that shed Her-2, producing a p95 stub that remains associated withthe cell.

The kits also relate to the novel discovery that administration ofcertain MPIs to a cell, when combined with various compounds disclosedherein, provides a novel synergistic effect relating to inhibition ofHer-2 cleavage to produce the p95 stub.

Although exemplary kits are described below, the contents of otheruseful kits will be apparent to the skilled artisan in light of thepresent disclosure. Each of these kits is included within the invention.

In one aspect, the invention includes a kit for alleviating a diseasemediated by overexpression of a Her-2 receptor. The kit is used pursuantto the methods disclosed in the invention. Briefly, the kit may be usedto contact a cell with a nucleic acid complementary to a nucleic acidencoding a Her-2 receptor where the nucleic acid is in an antisenseorientation with respect to transcription to reduce expression of thereceptor, or with an antibody that specifically binds with such receptoror a nucleic acid encoding the antibody, wherein inhibition or reductionin cleavage of Her-2 mediates a beneficial effect, or with a compoundthat inhibits cleavage of Her-2 by the ADAM, or combinations thereof.Moreover, the kit comprises an applicator and an instructional materialfor the use of the kit. These instructions simply embody the examplesprovided herein.

The kit can further include a synergistic amount of an antibody thataffects Her-2 cleavage, such as, but not limited to, Herceptin.Additionally, the kit can further comprise a synergistic amount of acytotoxic agent, such as, among others, Taxol.

In another aspect, the invention includes a kit for alleviating adisease mediated by overexpression of a Her-2 receptor. The kit is usedpursuant to the methods disclosed in the invention. Briefly, the kit maybe used to contact a cell with a compound capable of inhibiting theADAM-mediated cleavage of Her-2. As discussed elsewhere herein, such acompound may interact with an ADAM, with Her-2, or with both,consequently inhibiting the cleavage of Her-2 by an ADAM to form p95 andECD105. The inhibition of Her-2 cleavage thereby mediates a beneficialeffect.

The invention includes a kit comprising a synergistic amount of anantibody antagonist of Her-2, an ADAM inhibitor, an applicator, astandard, and an instructional material which describes administeringthe composition to a cell or an animal. This should be construed toinclude other embodiments of kits that are known to those skilled in theart, such as a kit comprising a standard and a (preferably sterile)solvent suitable for dissolving or suspending the composition of theinvention prior to administering the compound to a cell or an animal.Preferably the animal is a mammal. More preferably, the mammal is ahuman.

The invention encompasses a kit for inhibiting proliferation of a Her-2over-expressing cell. The kit comprises a synergistic amount of anantibody that is a Her-2 antagonist, and an ADAM inhibitor. The kit canfurther comprise a synergistic amount of a cytotoxic agent, including,but not limited to, Taxol, Cisplatin, and the like.

The skilled artisan would readily appreciate, based upon the disclosureprovided herein, that the present invention includes a wide variety ofkits for practicing the various methods of the invention.

In an aspect of the invention, a kit of the present invention includes apharmaceutically-acceptable carrier. The composition is provided in anappropriate amount as set forth elsewhere herein. Further, the route ofadministration and the frequency of administration are as previously setforth elsewhere herein.

The invention is further described in detail by reference to thefollowing experimental examples. These examples are provided forpurposes of illustration only, and are not intended to be limitingunless otherwise specified. Thus, the invention should in no way beconstrued as being limited to the following examples, but rather, shouldbe construed to encompass any and all variations which become evident asa result of the teaching provided herein.

EXAMPLES Example 1 Identification of ADAM10 and ADAM15 as Agents thatSpecifically Cleave Her-2

The data disclosed herein demonstrate, for the first time, that cleavageof Her-2 to produce an ectodomain that is released from a cell and a p95stub that remains associated with the cell is specifically mediated byADAM10 and by ADAM15. These data facilitate the development of potentialtherapeutics relating to inhibition of the cleavage of Her-2. Thematerials and methods are described below.

Cellular Reagents

Human breast cancer cell lines BT474 (HTB-20), SKBR3 (HTB-30), SKOV3(HTB-77), MDA-MB-231 (HTB-26) and T47D (HTB-133) were obtained from theAmerican Type Tissue Culture Collection (ATCC, Manassas, Va.). Cellswere routinely maintained in media recommended by the ATCC with slightmodifications. Cells were kept at 37° C. in a humidified incubatorsupplied with 5% CO₂. BT-474 cells were grown in RPMI 1640 (Invitrogen)supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS), 0.01 mg/ml bovineinsulin and 0.1 mM non-essential amino acids. SKBR-3 cells were grown inMcCoy's 5a (Invitrogen) supplemented with 10% FBS. T47D cells were grownin RPMI 1640 (Invitrogen) supplemented with 10% FBS and 10 ug/ml bovineinsulin. MDA-MB-231 (HTB-26) cells were grown in DMEM (Invitrogen)supplemented with 10% FBS. SKOV3 cells were grown in McCoy's 5a(Invitrogen) supplemented with 10% FBS. Both BT-474 and SKBR-3 cellsoverexpress Her-2 on the surface and have high level of Her-2 cleavage.

The results of the experiments described herein are as follows.

Identification of Proteases Responsible for Cleaving Her-2

The data disclosed herein demonstrate that ADAM10 and ADAM15 areresponsible for cleavage of Her-2 to produce p95, aconstitutively-active membrane-associated receptor, and ECD105, asoluble extracellular domain derived from the Her-2 receptor. The datadisclosed herein demonstrate that various ADAMs are expressed in cellsthat shed Her-2. Moreover, the data demonstrate that ADAM10 siRNAsinhibited Her-2 shedding in cells that shed Her-2. More specifically,Her-2 shedding in BT474 and SKBr3 cell lines that shed Her-2 wasinhibited by about 50-70% by ADAM10 siRNA compared with cells in theabsence of siRNA.

Similarly, the data disclosed demonstrate that ADAM15 also cleaves Her-2in that ADAM15 siRNA reduced Her-2 shedding by about 25-30% in SKBr3cells and by about 10% in BT474 cells compared with otherwise identicalcells in the absence of ADAM15 siRNA.

Additionally, the data disclosed herein demonstrate that there is asignificant correlation between Her-2 “sheddase” inhibition andinhibition of certain ADAMs as assessed by determining the IC50 fornumerous compounds for biochemical enzyme based inhibition andinhibition of Her-2 shedding.

There are twenty-three (23) annotated ADAM family members in humans(FIG. 1). ADAM10 and ADAM3 are annotated as pseudogenes and wereexcluded from further analysis since they do not encode functional ADAMfamily members. Twelve of the remaining human ADAM family memberscontain HEXGHXXGXXHD (SEQ ID NO: 45) sequences for metalloproteaseactive sites (ADAMs 8, 9, 10, 12, 15, 17, 19, 20, 21, 28, 30, and 33).With the exception of ADAM20 and ADAM21, the human catalytically activefamily members have complex intron/exon gene structures. The lack ofintrons in protein coding region ADAM20 and ADAM21 raises thepossibility that they may also be pseudogenes (Poindexter et al., 1999,Gene 237:61-70). Additionally, an analysis of the public domain genomicand cDNA sequences for ADAM20 reveals that the open reading frameextends N-terminal of the consensus start methionine and contains 50N-terminal residues that lack a signal peptide. Based on this latteranalysis, ADAM20 may encode a non-functional ADAM.

qPCR Analysis Of Breast Cancer Cell Lines

The expression pattern of catalytically active ADAMs was assessed inHER2 shedding cell lines in order to narrow the list of HER2 sheddasecandidates. Total RNA was isolated from cell lines using the RNeasytotal RNA isolation system and DNased according to the manufacturer's(Qiagen, Valencia, Calif.) instructions. RNA purity and concentrationwas determined spectrophotometrically (260 nm/280 nm); RNA integrity wasassessed by Agilent Bioanalyzer analysis: rRNA ratios were >2.0 for allsamples assayed in this study, indicating intact, high quality RNA.Fluorescence-based real-time PCR was performed essentially as described(Gibson et al., 1996, Genome Research 6:995-1001). Primers and probeswere designed to detect and discriminate mRNAs from 12 different ADAMfamily genes: ADAM8, ADAM9, ADAM10, ADAM12, ADAM15, ADAM17, ADAM19,ADAM20, ADAM21, ADAM28, ADAM30, and ADAM33. Oligonucleotides weresynthesized by Applied Biosystems (Foster City, Calif.). Allprimer/probe sequences are shown in FIG. 2.

Probe sequences were modified at the 5′ end with the reporter dye 6-FAM,and at the 3′ end with the quencher dye TAMRA. Probes detecting human18s rRNA were modified at the 5′ end with VIC and at the 3′ end withTAMRA (Applied Biosystems, Foster City, Calif.). Template cDNA wasgenerated using the Advantage RT-PCR kit according to the manufacturer's(Clontech, Palo Alto, Calif.) instructions using random hexamers and 1μg of DNaseI-treated total RNA. Taqman-based real-time PCR expressionprofiling was performed using 25 ng of each cDNA according to themanufacturer's (Applied Biosystems, Foster City, Calif.) instructionswith fluorescence being monitored in real-time with an ABI Prism 7900(Applied Biosystems, Foster City, Calif.). Relative expression levelswere determined essentially as described (Gibson, 1996) using standardcurves for each transcript. Relative abundance values for each cell typewere corrected for background amplification by subtracting mRNAabundance levels obtained from control reactions performed in theabsence of reverse transcriptase. Normalization between cell types wasperformed using assays specific to 18s rRNA, an invariant control RNAspecies present in all samples. All expression measurements wereperformed in triplicate.

qPCR analysis demonstrated that various cell lines that shed Her-2 atvarious levels, express certain ADAMs. That is, Her-2 shedding wasassessed using an ELISA assay to detect she ECD in conditioned mediumobtained from various cell cultures. The relative level of Her-2shedding was denoted by one through four “+” signs, with “+” being lowlevels of shedding and “++++” being high levels of shedding (FIG. 3).Expression of ADAMs 8, 9, 10, 12, 15, 17, 19, 20, 21, 28, 30, and 33 ineach cell line was determined. Two of the highest Her-2 shedding lines,having four plus signs (“++++”) each, BT474 and SKBR3, did not expressdetectable levels of ADAM28 or ADAM30, thereby eliminating these ADAMsas potential sheddases. Further, prior studies suggested that ADAM17(TACE) was not a HER2 sheddase candidate (Rio et al., 2002, J. Biol.Chem. 275:10379-103870). The data demonstrated that eight of thecatalytically active ADAMs were expressed in all shedding cell linesexamined. The data did not demonstrate a correlation between level ofHer-2 shedding and expression of any particular ADAM or ADAMs. Withoutwishing to be bound by any particular theory, the lack of correlationbetween RNA and shedding level suggests that the HER-2 sheddase is notrate limiting at the expression levels seen in these cell lines.

siRNA Mediated Specific Knock-Down of ADAMs

Based on the transcriptional profiling data obtained using qPCR, siRNAswere designed and produced that specifically reduced expression ofADAMS, 9, 10, 15, 21, and 33. siRNAs to ADAM17 were also developed foruse a negative controls in shedding experiments. The siRNAs arecommercially available.

Transfection of siRNAs into cells was performed using Oligofectamine(Elbashir et al., 2001, Nature 411:494-498) and knockdown was assessedby western analysis. Briefly, cells were seeded into multi-well platesso that the density was no greater than 50% confluence at the time oftransfection. Cells were harvested 48 to 96 hours following transfectionby washing once with PBS and harvesting in PBS by scraping. Cell pelletswere lysed in buffer containing 25 mM Hepes, pH 7.5; 150 mM NaCl, 1 mMEDTA, 5% glycerol, 1% Triton X-100 and a cocktail of proteinaseinhibitors (Roche). After incubation on ice for 30 minutes, the cellulardebris was removed by centrifugation at 14,000 rpm at 4 C. Total proteinconcentration was measured using the bicinchoninic acid method (Pierce),and equivalent amounts of cell extracts were resolved by SDS-PAGE andtransferred to nitrocellulose membranes.

ADAM proteins were detected by immunoblotting using commerciallyavailable antibodies specific to each protein (anti-ADAMS, Ab-1 OncogeneResearch; anti-ADAM10, Ab-1 Oncogene Research; anti-ADAMS, RP1 TriplePoint Biologics; anti-ADAM15, RP1 Triple Point Biologics; anti-ADAM17,Ab-1 Oncogene Research; anti-ADAM21, Chemicon International; andanti-ADAM33, polyclonal rabbit antiserum produced internally against animmunizing peptide corresponding to amino acids 777 to 790). Filterswere washed with PBS-Tween 20 and then incubated with the appropriatesecondary antibody conjugated to horseradish peroxidase (Pierce), washedagain, and the immunoconjugates were developed using enhancechemiluminescent reagents (Pierce) and visualized by exposure to X-rayfilm. In many experiments, the same filter was stripped with Restorereagent (Pierce) and reprobed with a different anti-ADAM antibody orwith anti-glyceraldehyde phosphate dehydrogenase (RDI) for normalizationof protein loading.

Initially pools of 4 siRNA oligonucleotides were used against eachtarget (“Smart Pool Technology”, Dharmacon). For siRNA pools thateffectively reduced Her2 shedding (ADAM10 and ADAM15), the individualsiRNA oligos comprising each Smart Pool were obtained together withtheir corresponding sequence information. The individual siRNAs werethen transfected separately and their ability to reduce Her-2 sheddingwas evaluated as described in order to identify the efficacious siRNAoligonucleotides. The sequence of the siRNAs that effectively reducedADAM10 protein called ADAM10-3is 5′-GGACAAACTTAACAACAAT (SEQ ID NO:7)that corresponds to nucleotides 1272 to 1300 (relative to ATG) of thefull length sequence of ADAM10 (SEQ ID NO:5). The sequence of the ADAM15siRNA that was most effective ADAM15-2 is 5′-GCCCAACCCTGGTGTGGTA (SEQ IDNO:8) corresponding to nucleotides 281-299 (relative to ATG) of the fulllength sequence of ADAM15.

The efficacy of each siRNA to specifically inhibit expression of theADAM for which it was designed was assessed. The data disclosed hereindemonstrate that each siRNA was specific for its respective ADAM andinhibited that ADAM but did not detectably inhibit expression of otherADAMs (FIGS. 4A-4D). More specifically, ADAM10 siRNA inhibited ADAM10but did not affect the level of ADAM9 as determined using western blotanalysis (FIG. 4A). Similarly, ADAM9 siRNA did not detectably affectexpression of ADAM10, but dramatically inhibited expression of ADAM9(FIG. 4B). Moreover, ADAM15 siRNA specifically inhibited expression ofADAM15, but did not detectably inhibit expression of ADAM17 (FIGS. 4Cand 4D). ADAM17 siRNA was also shown to inhibit expression of ADAM17(FIG. 4D).

Further, the data demonstrated that ADAMS and ADAM21 had minimal effecton protein levels. Further, ADAM33 protein was not detectable inuntreated, control BT474 or SKBr3 cell extracts and was not investigatedfurther.

Therefore, the data disclosed herein demonstrate the successful designand production of siRNAs that specifically inhibit an ADAM but not theother ADAMs when expressed in a cell that sheds Her-2. In addition, thesiRNAs each reduced the level of its specific ADAM by about 75% comparedwith an identical cell in the absence of the siRNA.

siRNA Inhibition of Her-2 Shedding

Next, the various siRNAs were examined to see what effect, if any, ofthe inhibition of the various ADAMs had on Her-2 shedding. To detect thecleaved Her2 ECD, cells were seeded into 24-well dishes at approximately50% confluence. After an overnight incubation to allow cell attachment,cells were transfected with siRNAs using Oligofectamine (Elbashir etal., 2001, Nature 411:494-498). Twenty four hours later, cells wereagain fed with fresh medium. After an additional 24 hour incubation, themedium was removed, cells were washed once with phosphate bufferedsaline, and fresh medium was added to each well. After 48 hoursincubation, the conditioned medium was collected, centrifuged at 5000rpm for 5 minutes, and the supernatant was removed for immediateanalysis by ELISA or frozen at −20° C. until such analysis could beperformed. Detection of Her2 ECD was performed using a commercial ELISAkit for c-erbB2/c-neu (Oncogene Research Products, Catalog no QIA10)according to manufacturer's protocol.

The data disclosed herein demonstrate that ADAM10 siRNA reduced Her-2shedding by about 50-70% in both BT474 and SKBr3 cells (FIGS. 5A and 5B,respectively). siRNAs to ADAMS, 9, 17 and 33 did not detectably affectHer-2 shedding in either cell line (FIGS. 5A and 5B). However, ADAM15siRNA reduced Her-2 shedding in BT474 cells by about 10%. Morestrikingly, the same siRNA reduced Her-2 shedding by about 25-30% inSKBr3 cell, demonstrating that the effects of the ADAM15 siRNA was celldependent.

The data disclosed herein demonstrate that ADAM10 and ADAM15 mediateHer-2 shedding such that inhibiting the ADAM in a cell causes adetectable decrease in Her-2 shedding by the cell.

Correlation of Her-2 Sheddase Inhibition and ADAMs Inhibition

Source of enzymes for biochemical assays: Except for ADAM17 and MT1-MMP,all recombinant human MMPs and ADAMs were obtained from R&D Systems(Minneapolis, Minn.). Their catalog numbers are as following: MMP1(901-MP), MMP2 (902-MP), MMP3 (513-MP), MMP7 (907-MP), MMP8 (908-MP),MMP9 (911-MP), MMP10 (910-MP), MMP12 (919-MP), MMP13 (511-MM), ADAM9(939-AD), and ADAM10 (936-AD). MT1-MMP was obtained from US Biological(Swampscott, Mass.) with a catalog number of M2429. Porcine ADAM17 waspurified in house from porcine spleen.

Substrates for biochemical assays: Fluorogenic Peptide substrate,(7-methoxycoumarin-4-yl)acetyl-Pro-Leu-Gly-Leu-(3-[2,4-dinitrophenyl]-L-2,3-diaminopropionyl)-Ala-Arg-NH₂(SEQ ID NO: 46), was obtained from R&D Systems (Minneapolis, Minn.) witha catalog number of ES001. It was used as substrate for MMP1, MMP2,MMP7, MMP8, MMP9, MMP12, MMP13, and MT1-MMP. Fluorogenic Peptidesubstrate,(7-methoxycoumarin-4-yl)acetyl-Arg-Pro-Lys-Pro-Val-Glu-Nva-Trp-Arg-Lys(2,4-dinitrophenyl)-NH₂(SEQ ID NO: 47), was obtained from R&D Systems with a catalog number ofES002. It was used as substrate for MMP3 and MMP10. Fluorogenic Peptidesubstrate,(7-methoxycourmarin-4-yl)-acetyl-Pro-Leu-Ala-Gln-Ala-Val-(3-[2,4-dinitrophenyl]-L-2,3-diaminopropionyl)-Arg-Ser-Ser-Ser-Arg-NH₂(SEQ ID NO: 48), was obtained from R&D Systems with a catalog number ofES003. It was used as substrate for ADAM10 and ADAM17.

Biochemical Assays: In general, assay buffer conditions were chosenbased on obtaining optimal enzymatic activities. The specific assaybuffer conditions are summarized as following. For MMP1, MMP2, MMP3,MMP7, and MMP12, the assay buffer contains 50 mM Tricine, 10 mM NaCl, 10mM CaCl₂, 1.0 mM ZnCl₂, pH 7.4.

For MMP8 and MMP13, the assay buffer contains 50 mM Tricine, 10 mM NaCl,10 mM CaCl₂, 1.0 mM ZnCl₂, 0.001% Brij35, pH 7.4. For MMP9 and MMP10,the assay buffer contains 50 mM Tris-HCl, 150 mM NaCl, 10 mM CaCl₂,0.001% Brij35, pH 7.5. For MT1-MMP, the assay buffer contains 100 mMTris-HCl, 100 mM NaCl, 10 mM CaCl₂, 0.001 Brij35, pH 7.5.

For ADAM9, the assay buffer contains 25 mM Tris, 2.5 uM ZnCl₂, and0.001% Brij35, 0.1 mg/mlBSA, pH 9.0. For ADAM10, the assay buffercontains 25 mM Tris, 2.5 uM ZnCl2, and 0.005% Brij35, pH 9.0. ForADAM17, the assay buffer contains 25 mM Tris, 2.5 μM ZnCl₂, and 0.001%Brij35, pH 9.0.

To activate MMP enzymes, 10 or 20 μg of lyophilized Pro-MMPs aredissolved in 100 μL of water. 100 mM p-aminophenylmercuric acetate(APMA) stock in DMSO is added to Pro-MMPs to give 1.0 mM finalconcentration. Incubate enzyme with APMA at 37° C. for a period timespecified below. For MMP1, MMP7, and MMP8, the incubation time is 1hour. For MMP10 and MMP13, the incubation time is 2 hours. For MMP3 andMMP9, the incubation time is 24 hours.

In general, 5 mM compound stock was prepared in DMSO. Two-fold serialdilution starting with a specific concentration was performed to givethe compound plate. 1.0 μL of compound in DMSO was transferred fromcompound plate to the assay plate. Enzyme solution was prepared in assaybuffer with a concentration specified below. Substrate solution wasprepared in assay buffer with a concentration of 20 μM. 50 μL of enzymesolution was added to the assay plate. The assay plate was incubated for5 minutes. 50 μL of substrate solution was then added to the assayplate. The plate was protected from light and the reaction was incubatedat room temperature or 37° C. for a period of time specified below. Thereaction was stopped by adding 10 μL of 500 mM EDTA solution. The platewas read on a plate reader with excitation of 320 nm and emission of 405nm. Percentage of inhibition was calculated for each concentration andIC50 value was generated from curve fitting.

Specific conditions for each assay are as following: MMP1 enzymeconcentration 1000 ng/mL, room temperature, 1 hour incubation; MMP2enzyme concentration 200 ng/mL, room temperature, 1 hour incubation;MMP3 enzyme concentration 1000 ng/mL, room temperature 1 hourincubation; MMP7 enzyme concentration 100 ng/mL, room temperature 1 hourincubation; MMP8 enzyme concentration 500 ng/mL, room temperature, 2hours incubation; MMP9 enzyme concentration 100 ng/mL, room temperature,1 hour incubation; MMP10 enzyme concentration 1000 ng/mL, roomtemperature, 2 hours incubation; MMP12 enzyme concentration 200 ng/mL,room temperature, 1 hour incubation; MMP13 enzyme concentration 200ng/mL, room temperature, 1.5 hours incubation; MT1-MMP enzymeconcentration 200 ng/mL, room temperature, 1 hour incubation; ADAM9enzyme concentration 4000 ng/mL, incubated at 37° C. 6 hours; ADAM10enzyme concentration 700 ng/mL, incubated at 37° C. 6 hours; ADAM17enzyme concentration 600 ng/mL, incubated at 37° C. 1 hour.

Correlation Studies Between Shedding and Biochemical Assays

Because Her-2 shedding occurs at the cell surface, a good correlationwas expected between cell-based Her-2 sheddase inhibition andbiochemical enzyme based inhibition. Accordingly, approximately 500compounds were assayed against ADAM10 and ADAM17 (also referred to asTACE), as well as ten (10) matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), e.g., MMP1,MMP2, MMP3, MMP7, MMP8, MMP9, MMP10, MMP12, MMP13, and MT1-MMP.

For each potential sheddase assayed, a log IC50 plot was producedgraphing the IC50 for inhibition of the potential sheddase versusinhibition of Her-2 shedding. The data disclosed herein, shown in FIGS.6-10, demonstrate that there was no correlation between enzymeinhibition and inhibition of Her-2 shedding with regard to MMP2 (FIG.6), MMP12 (FIG. 7), ADAM17 (FIG. 8), ADAMS (FIG. 9), demonstrating thatthese enzymes were not potential sheddases. Points falling outside ofthe upper and lower parallel lines are greater than 10-fold divergentfrom the ideal correlation curve (middle line).

The data disclosed demonstrate a strong correlation between the IC50 ofcompounds that inhibited ADAM10 and the IC50 of the same compounds forinhibition of Her-2 shedding (FIG. 10). These data demonstrate thatADAM10 is a sheddase.

In sum, expression of various ADAMs could be selectively inhibited usingvarious siRNAs. Further, in cell lines that shed Her-2, ADAM10 andADAM15, reduced Her-2 shedding. Further, biochemical inhibition datademonstrated that ADAM10 is a sheddase since compounds that inhibitHer-2 shedding also inhibited ADAM10 to the same extent. These dataamply demonstrate, for the first time, that ADAM10 mediates cleavage ofHer-2 to produce ECD and p95 in a cell. Thus, ADAM10 is a potentialtherapeutic target for treatment of diseases, disorders or conditionsmediated by cleavage of Her-2 to produce ECD, p95, or both.

Identification of Novel ADAM15 Splice Variants

The data disclosed herein demonstrate alternative splicing in the codingregion of ADAM15 (FIGS. 13A, 13B, 14A, and 14B). The published sequenceof ADAM15 represents a shorter form than the sequence disclosed herein.Two versions of ADAM15 were cloned, the first had one additional exon(FIGS. 13A and 13B) versus the previously known published sequence andthe second had two additional exons (FIGS. 14A and 14B).

RT-PCR was used to demonstrate that the version with one extra exon(variant 1) is the most abundant in the HER2 shedding and non-sheddingcell lines. The nucleic acid sequence of human ADAM15 variant 1 isdepicted in FIG. 13A-1 and 13A-2 (SEQ ID NO:1), while the amino acidsequence of the variant (SEQ ID NO:2) is set forth in FIG. 13B. Thenucleic acid sequence of the longest variant of human ADAM15 variant 2,is set forth in FIG. 14A (SEQ ID NO:3) and the amino acid sequence ofvariant 2 (SEQ ID NO:4) is provided in FIG. 14B.

Comparison of the two alternatively spliced exons to rat and mousegenomic sequences indicated that the exons are conserved across species.The alternative splice forms alter the cytoplasmic tail of ADAM15.Sequences encoded by the alternatively spliced exons containproline-rich domains with multiple consensus Src homology 3 (SH3) domainbinding sequences (Mayer and Eck, 1995, Current Biology 5:364-367).These alternatively spliced sequences provide sites for protein-proteininteractions between ADAM15 and SH3 domain containing proteins. Indeed,a recent description of similar splice variants in mouse (Shimizu etal., 2003, Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 309: 779-785) indicates thatthe alternatively spliced sequences alter the binding affinity of murineADAM15 for Src family proteins Lck and Src. Without wishing to be boundby any particular theory, the various novel splice variants of ADAM15may relate to cleavage of Her-2 and provide potential targets fordevelopment of useful therapeutics relating to inhibition of Her-2cleavage. This is especially true where one of the variants, humanADAM15 variant 1, appears to be correlated with Her-2 shedding.

Example 2 Synergistic Anti-Tumor Effect between MPI and a Her-2Antagonist Antibody

The data disclosed herein demonstrate successful inhibition of tumorcell growth using newly identified inhibitors, e.g., MPIs, of theenzymatic processing of Her-2 (p185). These inhibitors can be potentialtherapeutics for development of therapy for Her-2 overexpressing and/orECD shedding cancers. Briefly, cell lines in which Herceptin™ inducesarrest of malignant cell growth arrest were studied. Inhibition of Her-2receptor processing by metalloprotease inhibitors alone, or incombination with suboptimal concentrations of Herceptin™ can arrest thegrowth and impact the susceptibility to apoptosis of Her-2overexpressing breast cancer cell line cells. Further, the datadisclosed herein demonstrate the surprising synergy of Herceptin™ andMPI in arresting the cell growth of malignant cells that overexpressHer-2.

The materials and methods are now described.

Cells, Compounds, Drugs and Other Reagents

Human breast cancer cell lines BT-474 (# HTB-20), SKBR-3 (#HTB-30) andMCF-7 (# HTB-22) were obtained from the American Type Tissue CultureCollection (ATCC, Manassas, Va.). Cells were routinely maintained inmedia recommended by the ATCC with slight modifications. Cells were keptat 37° C. in a humidified incubator supplied with 5% CO₂. BT-474 cellswere grown in RPMI 1640 (Invitrogen) supplemented with 10% fetal bovineserum (FBS), 0.01 mg/ml bovine insulin, 10 mM HEPES and 0.1 mMnon-essential amino acids. SKBR-3 cells were grown in McCoy's 5a(Invitrogen) supplemented with 10% FBS. MCF-7 cells were kept in Eagle'sminimal essential medium (ATCC) supplemented with 10% FBS and 0.01 mg/mlbovine insulin. Both BT-474 and SKBR-3 cells overexpress Her-2 on thesurface and have high level of Her-2 cleavage, but MCF-7 cells do notoverexpress Her-2. Herceptin™, Paclitaxel™ (Taxol™) and Cisplatin™ werepurchased from Hanna Pharmaceuticals (Wilmington, Del.). Herceptin™ wasprepared as a stock solution (1 mg/mL) in sterile water once every fourweeks to maintain its activity.

Compounds (MPIs) used in the below experiments included Compound 5((6S,7S)-N-hydroxy-5-methyl-6-{[4-(2-methyl-4-nitrophenyl)piperazin-1-yl]-carbonyl}-5-azaspiro[2.5]octane-7-carboxamide),Compound 6((6S,7S)-N-hydroxy-5-methyl-6-({4-[5-(trifluoromethyl)pyridin-2-yl]piperazin-1-ylcarbonyl)-5-azaspiro[2.5]octane-7-carboxamide),Compound 8((1S,2S)-2-(4-(4-fluorophenyl)piperazin-1-yl)carbonyl)-N-hydroxycyclohexanecarboxamide),Compound 4((3R)-N-hydroxy-2-((4-methoxyphenyl)sulfonyl)-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinoline-3-carboxamide),and Compound 7 (Prinomastat), each of which can be obtainedcommercially, made according to the literature, or prepared according tothe methods described in U.S. Ser. No. 60/534,501, the disclosure ofwhich is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. All compoundsused in these studies were routinely prepared as 5 mM stocks in 100%DMSO (Sigma).

Tumor specimens were obtained by Oncotech (Tustin, Calif.) according totheir IRB approved protocol using standard procedures known in the art.Cell cultures were maintained in tissue culture flasks. Cells intendedfor experimental treatment were harvested in log phase with EDTA andwere plated at a density of 1×10⁵ cells/well in 24-well polystyreneplates in 0.5 ml RPMI with 10% FCS. Experiments to determine the effectsof MPIs on shed Her-2 receptor were performed as described below forBT-474 cells.

Cell Proliferation Assays

Proliferation assays were routinely performed with two protocols: cellcounting and BrdU incorporation assay. For cell counting, cells (1×10⁵)were seeded in each well of 12 well plates and cultured overnight. Then,cells were treated for 6 days with drugs and compounds as indicated inindividual experiments. Culture media were replaced with fresh mediacontaining the same concentrations of drugs and compounds after thefirst 3 days of treatment. Viable cells were counted with hemacytometersimmediately after trypan blue staining.

The BrdU incorporation assay was performed using a colorimetric CellProliferation ELISA kit per manufacturer's instruction (#1647229, RocheMolecular Biochemicals), measuring DNA synthesis in proliferating cells.Briefly, cells (5−10×10³) were seeded in each well of 96 well plates andcultured overnight. The next day, culture media were replaced with freshmedia containing drugs and compounds as indicated for individualexperiments. After 2-6 day treatment, 10 μM (final concentration) ofBrdU labeling solution was added into the medium and the cells wereincubated for an additional 4-5 hours at 37° C. The labeling medium wasremoved, and 200 μl/well FixDenat added to the cells and incubated for30 minutes at room temperature. The FixDenat solution was thoroughlyremoved, and 100 μl/well anti-BrdU-POD antibody conjugate workingsolution added and incubated for 90 minutes at room temperature. Thenthe antibody conjugate was removed and the cells were rinsed three timeswith 200 μl/well washing solution. Finally, 100 μl/well of substratesolution was added and the results were obtained using a microplatereader (Spectra Max PLUS, Molecular Devices) during color development.Multiple readings at various time points were obtained and results inthe linear range of the assay were obtained. The data disclosed hereinrepresent average numbers and standard deviations of representative,replicated experiments are presented. Appropriate controls were includedfor the assays.

Apoptosis Assays

Apoptosis assays were performed with a Cell Death Detection ELISA^(PLUS)kit (cat. no. 1774425, Roche Molecular Biochemicals) measuring DNAfragmentation in apoptotic cells. Briefly, cells (1×10⁴) were seeded ineach well of 96 well plates and cultured overnight. On the next day,culture media were replaced with fresh media containing drugs andcompounds as indicated in individual experiments. After 3 day treatment,the cells were spun down at 200×g for 10 minutes and the supernatant wasremoved carefully. The cell pellet was resuspended in 200 μL lysisbuffer and incubated for 30 minutes at room temperature. The lysate wascentrifuged at 200×g for 10 minutes. 20 μL of the supernatant wastransferred into another microplate. 80 μL of the appropriateimmunoreagent was added to each well. The microplate was covered with anadhesive cover foil and shaken gently for about 2 hours at roomtemperature. The solution was removed and the plate was rinsed 3 timeswith 250 μL/well incubation buffer. Finally, 100 μL/well ABTS solutionwas added and the results were read with a microplate reader Spectra MaxPLUS (Molecular Devices) during color development. Multiple readings atvarious time points were obtained and results in the linear range of theassay were obtained. Average numbers and standard deviations ofrepresentative, replicated experiments are presented. Appropriatecontrols were included in the assays.

Her-2 ELISA

BT474 cells were seeded in 100 μL of RPMI medium containing 10% FCS+10μg/ml insulin in 96 well plates at 2×10⁴ cells/well. The cells wereincubated overnight at 37° C. The following morning, the media wasremoved and 100 μL of fresh media with or without compound was addedback. The cells were incubated for about 72 hours at 37° C. After about72 hours, the supernatants were removed. The samples were diluted 1:10and analyzed using a commercially available Her-2 ELISA kit permanufacturer's instructions (Oncogene Research, catalog #QIA 10).

Western Blot

BT474 cells were seeded in 1 mL of RPMI medium containing 10% FCS+10μg/ml insulin in 12 well plates at 1×10⁵ cells/well. The cells wereincubated overnight at 37° C. The following morning, the media wasremoved and 1 mL of fresh serum-free RPMI media+/− compound was addedback. The cells were incubated for 5 days at 37° C. After 5 days, thesupernatants were removed. 15 μL of supernatant was added to 15 μL ofsample buffer (Novex, catalog #LC2676) and the samples were loaded ontoa 4-12% Tris-Glycine gradient gel (Novex, EC6035). The samples wereseparated for 2 hours at 125 volts. The gels were then transferred ontoPVDF membrane (NEN, catalog #NEF-100) at 30 volts overnight in the cold.The following morning, the blots were blocked in 5% milk/PBS/0.05%Tween-20 for 1 hour at room temperature. Her-2 antibody (NeoMarkers,catalog #MS-1350-P1) was diluted 1:200 in 5% milk/PBS/0.05% Tween-20 andincubated with the blots for 2 hours at room temperature. The blots werewashed 5 times (10 minutes each wash) in PBS/0.05% Tween-20. AnHRP-conjugated goat anti-mouse IgG antibody was diluted 1:2000 and addedto the blots for 1 hour at room temperature, The blots were washed 5times (10 minutes each wash) in PBS/0.05% Tween-20. The blots were thenincubated for 5 minutes with SuperSignal West Pico Chemiluminescentsubstrate (Pierce, catalog #34080) and exposed to film.

In experiments to determine the effects of MPI treatment on cellsignaling, BT474 cells were plated at 1×105 cells/mL in 2 mL of media(RPMI+10% FCS+10 μg/mL insulin) in 12-well plates. The followingmorning, the media was replaced and the cells were treated with MPI orHerceptin for 5 days, changing the media and replacing MPI on day 3.After 5 days, the cells were harvested, lysed in 200 μL ice-cold lysisbuffer containing 10 mM Tris, pH 7.2, 150 mM NaCl, 1% Triton X-100, 1%deoxycholic acid, 0.1% SDS, 50 μg/mL leupeptin, 50 μg/mL aprotinin, 1 mMsodium vanadate, 50 mM sodium fluoride, 1 mM PMSF. After 10 minutes onice, the samples were microfuged at 13,000 rpm for 10 minutes at 4° C.and the supernatants collected. For analysis, 15 μL of 2× Laemmli samplebuffer (BioRad, cat#161-0737) was added to 15 μL of extract, samplesboiled for 5 minutes and loaded onto 12-well 12% Tris-Glycine gels(Novex, cat# EC60052). Gels were run in 1× Tris-Glycine-SDS buffer(Gibco BRL) using Novex minigel apparatus for approximately 1.5 hours.Following electrophoresis, proteins were transferred onto PVDF membrane(NEN, cat#NEF1000) in 1× Tris-Glycine buffer (Biorad, cat#161-0734)containing 20% MeOH for 2-3 hours using BioRad miniblot transfer system.After transfer, membranes were blocked in PBS+5% milk+0.1% Tween-20 for1 h at RT. Primary antibody (anti-pERK, 1:1000, NEB, cat#9101 oranti-phospho-AKT, 1:1000, NEB, cat#9271) was added in 15 mL of PBS+5%milk+0.1% Tween-20 and incubated overnight in the cold. The blots werewashed 3×, 15 minutes each in PBS+0.1% Tween-20. Horseradishperoxidase-conjugated secondary antibody (goat anti-rabbit IgG, 1:2000,NEB, cat#7074) was diluted in 15 mL of PBS+5% milk+0.1% Tween-20 andincubated with the blot for 1 hour at RT. The blots were washed 3×,minutes each in PBS+0.1% Tween-20. Chemiluminescent detection reagent(Pierce, cat#34080) was added to the blot and incubated 5 minutes at RTbefore exposing to film.

Identification of Her-2 Sheddase Inhibitors

A series of hydroxamic acid-based metalloproteaase inhibitors (MPIs)were tested, including, but not limited to, TAPI, Compound 5, Compound6, Compound 8, Compound 4, and Compound 7. These inhibitors were added,at varying concentrations, to cultures of BT474 cells, a Her-2overexpressing breast cancer cell line known to enzymatically processcell surface Her-2 (p185) and release the extracellular domain (ECD)into the culture supernatant, i.e., shedding of ECD. After 72 hours,cell culture supernatants were harvested and assayed for Her-2 ECDcontent using an ELISA assay.

The MPIs tested varied widely in efficacy, from almost no inhibition at10 μM to about 50% inhibition of ECD processing at 10-50 nM. The resultsobtained using a representative compound is depicted in FIG. 15. ELISAresults were confirmed by Western blotting. Western blotting of culturesupernatants identified the presence of a protein of approximately 105kDa, the size of the Her-2 ECD, which is recognized by an anti-Her-2 ECDreactive monoclonal antibody. The presence of this band is reduced orabolished by those MPIs scoring as effective inhibitors in the Her-2 ECDELISA (FIG. 16). MPIs that detectably inhibited Her-2 cleavage toproduce a level of ECD, which was less than the level of ECD produced inthe absence of the inhibitor, are termed active inhibitors of “sheddase”in that they inhibit shedding of the ECD upon cleavage of Her-2 (p185).The compound was also effective in blocking ECD processing in a primarybreast tumor cell that overexpresses Her-2 (FIG. 17).

To examine the biological consequences of Her-2 processing, varyingconcentrations of an active (Compound 5), or a structurally related butinactive (Compound 6) Her-2 sheddase inhibitor, were added to culturesof BT474 cells. In some cases, these cultures were also supplementedwith varying concentrations of Herceptin™. After varying periods of cellculture (2-6 days), the cell cultures were harvested and cell growth wasassessed by cell count and BRdU incorporation using standard protocols.

As demonstrated by the data disclosed herein, at concentrations below 5μM, MPI alone did not detectably affecte the growth of the cancer cellline. At higher concentrations of each compound, nonspecific effectswere detected which likely reflect chemical toxicity.

Administration of Herceptin™ to the cells led to growth inhibition in aconcentration dependent manner, with a maximal effect of approximately50% inhibition at concentrations above 1 μg/ml. At 0.2 μg/ml, Herceptin™was without significant effect on BT474 cell growth.

Surprisingly, the combination of suboptimal doses of Herceptin™ and anactive Her-2 sheddase inhibitor, but not the structurally related, butinactive, Her-2 sheddase inhibitor, reduced BT474 cell growth moreefficiently than optimal concentrations of Herceptin™ alone or thesheddase inhibitor alone (FIGS. 18 and 19). This synergistic pattern wasalso observed with SKBR3, another Her-2 overexpressing breast cancercell line which sheds Her-2 ECD.

In contrast, the growth of MCF7 breast cancer cell line, which expressesbasal levels of Her-2 and does not shed ECD in vitro, was notsignificantly impacted by Herceptin™, the active Her-2 sheddaseinhibitor, or the combination of Herceptin™ antibody and active sheddaseinhibitor (FIGS. 18 and 19). These results demonstrate that MPI-mediatedinhibition of Her-2 ECD shedding can synergize with suboptimalconcentrations of Herceptin™ to induce growth arrest of Her-2overexpressing breast cancer cell line cells. Further, the datadisclosed herein demonstrate that the synergistic effect is mediated by,or is associated with, inhibition of the processing of full-length Her-2(p185) into an ECD domain that can be shed and a cell-associatedconstitutively active kinase portion (p95) since, unlike cells thatoverexpress p185 and shed ECD, cells that do not over-express Her-2 orshed ECD, are not growth-inhibited by treatment with Herceptin™ and/oran active MPI of sheddase.

In a separate study, a broad specificity sheddase inhibitor (Compound 7)was shown to synergistically enhance the antiproliferative activity ofsuboptimal doses of Herceptin™ in Her-2 overexpressing BT474 cells.Synergistic enhancement of the anti-proliferative effect was detectedwhen cells were treated with suboptimal doses of Herceptin™ ranging from0.067 to 5 μg/ml and an efficacious dose (1 μM) of Compound 7 (FIG. 22).

Her-2 Downstream Signaling Studies

It has been shown by previous studies that overexpression of Her-2 leadsto the phosphorylation and activation of the MAP kinase and AKT signaltransduction pathways, and that this event is critical for cellproliferation and survival. In addition, treatment of cancer cells usingoptimal concentrations of Herceptin™ has been shown to block activationof both pathways, presumably resulting in the growth arrest observed.Since the sheddase inhibitor in combination with low doses ofHerceptin™, led to growth inhibition of Her-2 overexpressing cells at asurprising level indicating synergism, the effect of this treatment onthe MAP kinase and AKT signaling pathways was examined.

Phosphorylation of AKT and the MAP kinase ERK were monitored by westernblot analysis using phospho-specific antibodies. Cultures of BT474 cellswere treated for 6 days with varying concentrations of the sheddaseinhibitor alone or in combination with Herceptin™. Similar to theresults observed on cell growth, treatment of BT474 cells with 0.2 μg/mlHerceptin™ in combination with the sheddase inhibitor (Compound 4) ledto a detectable reduction in phosphorylation of both AKT and ERK.Treatment of cells with either the sheddase inhibitor at concentrationsof less than 5 μM or 0.2 μg/ml Herceptin™ alone did not demonstrate adetectable effect on AKT or ERK phosphorylation (FIG. 20). Further,these pathways were not impacted in the Her-2 non-overexpressing MCF7cells following treatment with Herceptin™, the sheddase inhibitor or thesynergistic combination of these compounds.

Without wishing to be bound by any particular theory, the data disclosedherein demonstrate that the synergy observed with Herceptin™ and thesheddase inhibitor on cell growth has a biochemical basis, apparentlyresulting, at least in part, from inhibition of the AKT and/or MAPkinase pathway(s).

Consistent with published reports, saturating amounts of Herceptinprevent Her-2 cleavage in vitro (FIG. 21). However, at suboptimal dosesof Herceptin, this does not occur. The MPI together with low doses ofHerceptin are at least additive in preventing Her-2 cleavage. Thisoccurs at the same doses where synergistic effects of Herceptin and theMPI are observed on cell growth.

The studies disclosed herein demonstrate, for the first time, that aHer-2 sheddase inhibitor potentiates the effects of Herceptin™ inblocking the growth of Her-2 overexpressing breast cell lines in vitro,and appears to inhibit the AKT and/or MAP kinase pathway(s). These datademonstrate that an inhibitor of Her-2 processing can be a usefultherapeutic in patients with Her-2 overexpressing breast cancer as partof a multidrug treatment regimen, which treatment can includeHerceptin™.

Combinations of Sheddase Inhibitors and Herceptin™ Enhance the AntitumorActivity of Chemotherapeutic Agents in Her-2 Overexpressing BreastCancer Cells

To further explore potential clinical applications of the synergismdisclosed herein between sheddase inhibitors and Herceptin™, antitumoractivity of standard chemotherapeutic agents (e.g., Taxol™ andCisplatin™) was evaluated in combination with sheddase inhibitors (e.g.,Compound 7) and Herceptin™ in breast cancer cell lines BT474, SKBR3 andMCF7 cells. The results show that combinations of Compound 7 andHerceptin™ significantly enhance the antitumor activity of Taxol™ andCisplatin™ in Her-2 overexpressing BT474 and SKBR3 cells, but not inMCF7 cells that do not overexpress Her-2 (FIGS. 23 and 24).

Without wishing to be bound by any particular theory, the resultssuggest the enhanced synergistic antitumor activity by combinations ofHerceptin™ and sheddase inhibitors (e.g., Compound 7) is mediatedthrough a specific effect (e.g., inhibition of Her-2 cleavage) on Her-2by the sheddase inhibitor in Her-2 overexpressing cells. The resultsfurther demonstrate that triple combinations of cytotoxic agent(s)(e.g., Taxol™ or Cisplatin™), Herceptin™ and sheddase inhibitors (e.g.,Compound 7) have superior antitumor activity compared with any agentused singly, or combinations of any two of the three agents.

It has been reported previously that chemotherapeutic agents (e.g.,Taxol™ and Cisplatin™) can induce programmed cell death or apoptosis inbreast cancer cells. Accordingly, studies were conducted to determinewhether the synergism between sheddase inhibitor(s) and Herceptin™ couldaffect apoptosis induced by Taxol™ or Cisplatin™ in breast cancer cells.Surprisingly, the combinations of sheddase inhibitor Compound 7 andHerceptin™ synergistically enhanced apoptosis induced by Taxol™ orCisplatin™ in Her-2 overexpressing BT474 and SKBR3 cells, but not inMCF7 cells that do not overexpress Her-2.

These results indicate that the enhanced apoptosis induced bycombinations of a cytotoxic agent (e.g., Taxol™), an antagonisticantibody (e.g., Herceptin™), and a sheddase inhibitor (e.g., Compound 7)is mediated through a specific effect (e.g., inhibition of Her-2cleavage) on Her-2 by the sheddase inhibitor in Her-2 overexpressingcells. The results further demonstrate that triple combinations ofcytotoxic agent(s) (e.g., Taxol™ or Cisplatin™), antagonistic antibody(exemplified by Herceptin™), and a sheddase inhibitor (e.g., Compound 7)induce the highest level of apoptosis over any single agents of thethree or combinations of any two of the three agents. Conceivably, thiscombined synergistic effect of the three agents on the induction ofapoptosis can partially contribute to overall enhanced antitumoractivity.

Example 3 Synergistic Effect of MPIs and Inhibitors of EGFR TyrosineKinase Family Members

The data disclosed herein demonstrate, for the first time, thatcombinations of sheddase inhibitors and Herceptin™ enhanceantiproliferative activity of Iressa™ (an EGFR1 selective kinaseinhibitor) in Her-2 overexpressing breast cancer cells.

From a genetics point of view, cancer is a type of diseases resultingfrom abnormal and complicated actions of multiple genes (or theirencoded proteins) that play important roles in the formation,progression and maintenance of the disease (Ponder, 2001, Nature411:336-341). Those genes are commonly classified into, but not limitedto, proto-oncogenes, oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes. The actionsof the genes or their encoded proteins include, but are not limited to,alterations of their genetic codes or in the level of their expressionand/or activity in cancerous cells. Many receptor tyrosine kinases(e.g., EGFR family kinases) belong to the class of proto-oncogenes(Blume-Jensen. et al., 2001, Nature 411:355-365). When mutated oractivated alone or with other cancer-related genes, they can cause thetransformation of normal cells into cancerous cells. Alterations andactivation of these cancer-causing genes are frequently detected in celllines and primary tissues isolated from cancer patients. Accordingly,these types of genes are often targeted for cancer prevention andintervention. Nonetheless, to date, effective cancer therapy based oncontrol of cancer genes has not been achieved, and there remains a largeunmet need for such therapies. Moreover, there is a long-felt need fortools for the development of such therapies.

To explore the potential utility of the synergism detected betweensheddase inhibitors and Herceptin™, studies were conducted to determinewhether combinations of sheddase inhibitors and Herceptin™ could enhancethe antiproliferative activity of Iressa™, a synthetic small moleculekinase inhibitor selectively active against EGF receptor-1. Iressa™,developed by AstraZeneca, has demonstrated antitumor activity against avariety of cancer cells including, but not limited to, breast cancercells. Iressa™ acts to antagonize cancer cell growth by inhibitingEGFR1-mediated signaling and mitogenesis. Recently, Iressa™ was approvedfor the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer patients in Japan,Australia, and the United States.

The results from the proliferation assay (FIG. 26) demonstrate thatcombinations of sheddase inhibitor (e.g., Compound 7) and Herceptin™synergistically enhanced the antiproliferative activity of Iressa™ inHer-2 overexpressing breast cancer BT474 cells, but not in MCF7 cellsthat do not overexpress Her-2. The result presents a differenttherapeutic strategy than the one that combines cytotoxic agent(s)(e.g., Taxol and Cisblastin), Herceptin™ and sheddase inhibitor(s).

The data disclosed herein demonstrates that in a Her-2 overexpressingtumor, combining sheddase inhibitors (e.g., Compound 7), a Her-2antagonistic antibody (e.g, Herceptin™), and a third therapeutic agent(cytotoxic or cytostatic, gene/protein target-based, including, but notlimited to, Iressa™), which by itself at least also possesses detectableantitumor activity, greater synergistic anti-tumor activity wasachieved.

Example 4

In Vivo Activity of MPIs

This example describes in vivo studies carried out with selectiveinhibitors of Her-2 shedding including, Compound 1 (methyl(6S,7S)-7-[(hydroxyamino)carbonyl]-6-[(4-phenyl-3,6-dihydropyridin-1(2H)-yl)carbonyl]-5-azaspiro[2.5]octane-5-carboxylate)and Compound 2 (methyl(6S,7S)-7-[(hydroxyamino)carbonyl]-6-[(4-phenylpiperazin-1-yl)carbonyl]-5-azaspiro[2.5]octane-5-carboxylate),in a breast cancer xenograft model with a cell line overexpressingHer-2. These results, indicating a strong correlation between theinhibition of Her-2 shedding and anti-tumor activity, support thatinhibition of Her-2 shedding offers a novel approach to the treatment ofHer-2 overexpressing cancers. The term “selective” indicates thecompounds tested were more effective inhibitors of one or more membersof the ADAM family of metalloproteases than of members of the matrixmetalloproteases (MMPs).

The sheddase inhibitors tested below can be prepared by any of numerousmethods known in the art and are described in U.S. Ser. No. 60/534,501,the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety.

Xenograft Studies

For the BT-474-SC1 tumor model (see Results below), slow-releaseestrogen pellets (Innovative Research of America) were insertedsubcutaneously (s.c.) into the flank of each mouse 24 hours prior totumor cell inoculation. Balb/C nude and SCID-bg mice were obtained fromCharles River Laboratories. Cells were harvested from their tissueculture plates, counted, centrifuged, and resuspended in serum freegrowth media and BD Matrigel™ at a 1:1 ratio immediately prior toimplantation. In either one or two locations, 1−2×10⁷ viable BT-474-SC1cells were injected s.c. into the upper flank of each mouse. For allmodels, tumors were measured on a weekly basis and their volumescalculated using the formula [volume=(length×width²)÷2]. Once the meantumor volume of the required number of mice reached the desired size(usually >150 mm³), they were randomized into treatment groups usuallycontaining between 6 and 12 mice. Animals were then treated withcompound or vehicle (10% DMAC, 30% propylene glycol) by mini-osmoticpump (Alzet, Cupertino, Calif.) implanted i.p. or s.c. for 7 to 28 daysto achieve the desired compound exposure—controlled by altering the pumpflow rate and/or the concentration of compound inside the pumps. Tumorsize and body weights (a measure of animal health) were monitoredweekly. Blood samples were also drawn (retro-orbital) while the osmoticpumps were functional and plasma was separated by centrifugation andstored at −80° C. for later pharmacokinetic and/or ELISA analysis, todetermine the levels of circulating Her-2 ECD (described above). Notethat in experiments designed to evaluate the effects of compoundtreatment on levels circulating Her-2 ECD, blood samples were drawn onthe day osmostic pumps were implanted (day 0) and then again six dayslater (day 6).

Measurement of Plasma ECD Levels

To measure levels of circulating Her-2 ECD in mice, plasmas wereisolated from the blood samples described above and analyzed shortlyafter harvesting or stored frozen at −80° C. until analysis. To assessHer-2 ECD levels, plasma samples were diluted 1:5 and analyzed using acommercially available Her-2 ELISA kit per manufacturer's instructions(Oncogene Research, catalog #QIA10).

Immunohistochemistry and Western Blotting

For Western/immunoblot analysis, flash frozen tumor samples werepulverized and lysed in standard RIPA buffer using a dounce homogenizerand/or a polytron machine. Samples were incubated on ice for 15 minutesand centrifuged at 10,000×g for 15 min in a cold room. Supernatants wereremoved, protein concentrations were determined, and 20 micrograms ofprotein was subjected to standard immunoblotting procedures (describedabove). Primary antibodies used were purchased from Cell SignalingTechnologies (Beverly, Mass.). Total (#9102) and phosphorylated (#9102)ERK1/2 antibodies were used at a 1:1000 dilution as were antibodies fortotal (#9272) and phosphorylated (#9271) Akt/PKB. For IHC, the tissueswere dehydrated through a series of alcohols and 100% xylene (PolyScientific), in a Thermo-Shandon Excelsior model processor.Subsequently, the tissues were placed in base molds (Tissue-Tek), andembedded in paraffin wax with the aid of a Histocentre2 (Thermo-Shandon,Pittsburgh, Pa.). The blocks were faced and 5 μM sections cut with aconventional microtome (e.g. Leica RM2155), floated in a warm water bathand adhered to pre-cleaned microslides (Superfrost, VWR, West Chester,Pa.). Prior to staining, slides were heated at 55-60 C for 1 hour, andthen cooled to room temperature. They were deparaffinized by threepasses of 5 minutes each through xylene, and rehydrated by passagethrough 100% and 95% ethanol (3 passes, 1 minute each, followed by 5-1minute washes in distilled water.

Endogenous peroxidase was quenched by incubation at room temperature in1% H₂O₂ for 15 minutes, followed by two washes in distilled/deionizedH₂O (ddH₂O). Antigen retrieval was achieved with pre-heated citratebuffer (Antigen Unmasking Solution, Vector Laboratories, Burlingame,Calif.) in a standard microwave unmasking protocol—10 minutes fullpower. Slides were cooled for 1 hour, rinsed in ddH₂O, and placed intophosphate-buffered saline solution (PBS) (Mediatech, Herndon, Va.). Thetissue sections were encircled with a hydrophopic barrier pen (VectorLabs), and endogenous avidin and blocked (avidin and biotin) followingmanufacturer's protocols (Blocking Kit, Vector Labs). The slides werewashed with PBS followed by the addition of 10% goat serum (Vector Labs)in PBS for 30 minutes. Antibodies were diluted into 0.5% BSA (VectorLabs)/PBS, as follows:

Rabbit anti-Ki67 (Novocastra Laboratories, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK)1:3000

Rabbit anti-phospho-AKT:Ser473 (Cell Signaling, Beverly, Mass.) 1:200.

Antibody was added and slides incubated in a humidified chamber at 4° C.overnight. The antibody was then aspirated and the slides washed withPBS. Biotinylated secondary antibody (goat anti-rabbit, Vector Labs) wasdiluted 1:500 in 0.5% BSA/PBS, and added to each section for 30 minutesat room temperature. The slides were washed again with PBS and coveredwith an avidin-biotin-conjugated horseradish peroxidase solution (R.T.U.Vectastain Elite ABC Reagent, Vector Labs) for 30 minutes and washed afinal time in PBS. Slides were developed using artificial peroxidasesubstrate, typically NovaRed (Vector Labs) following manufacturer'sprotocols. Slides were counterstained with Mayer's hematoxylin (SigmaSt. Louis, Mo.) and slides were subjected to a standard dehydratingprocedure and coverslipped with (Cytoseal 60, Richard Allen) andobserved using a Nikon Eclipse E800. Images were captured with ACT-1software (Nikon Corporation, Melville, N.Y.).

Results

A. Xenograft Model

In order to carry out the in vivo studies, a suitable model wasidentified and characterized that overexpressed Her-2 and shedsignificant levels of Her-2 ECD. Additionally, while Her-2 may beupregulated in a variety of cancer cell lines by multiple mechanisms, acell line was chosen in which Her-2 overexpression results from genomicamplification of the gene encoding Her-2 because it is believed thatthis type of genetic mutation more strongly supports a role for Her-2 inthe transformed phenotype of the cell type. While the literaturedescribes a number of cell lines possessing this ‘shedding’ phenotype,the BT-474 model was chosen based on its ability to form tumors inimmune compromised mice (van Slooten, H. J., et al., 1995, British JCancer 72:22-30).

A subclone of BT-474, herein referred to as BT474-SC1, that had bothimproved tumor take and increased growth kinetics was derived accordingto routine methods. Using plasma obtained from mouse bearing BT474-SC1tumors, it was established that this subclone sheds Her-2 similar to theparental cell line. This cell line was used for the experimentsdescribed below.

B. Inhibition of Her-2 Shedding In Vivo

The ability of Her-2 shedding inhibitors, Compound 1 and Compound 2, wasfirst tested to reduce the circulating levels of Her-2 ECD in the plasmaof mice bearing BT-474-SC1 human breast cancer tumor xenografts. Immunecompromised mice were injected with BT-474-SC1 cells mixed withMatrigel™ subcutaneously into the upper flanks of the mice. Fromprevious experiments, it was determined that when the tumor burdenexceeded roughly 200 mm³, the levels of circulating Her-2 ECD weredetectable (in plasma samples using the ELISA assay referred topreviously) and significant enough that a window for potentialquantifiable inhibition existed (data not shown). As such, tumors weremeasured weekly and when the desired number of mice had tumors of therequired size, they were randomly assigned into one of two treatmentgroups, vehicle or compound. All mice were then bled prior to theimplantation of the miniature osmotic pumps to determine a baselinelevel of circulating ECD (day 0). Six days after the treatment wasinitiated (day 6), the mice were euthanized and tissues of interest werecollected, including blood and tumors. Plasma samples from days 0 and 6were analyzed by ELISA to determine the levels of Her-2 ECD (FIG. 27).Using this method, each mouse was able to serve as its own control. Themajority of animals treated with vehicle showed a modest increase intheir shed ECD levels over the six day timeframe; however, mice treatedwith a selective sheddase inhibitor (Compound 2) had a significantlylower level of circulating ECD on day 6 compared to vehicle treatedanimals (p<0.0001), as well as on an individual basis (comparing days 0and 6).

C. Inhibition Tumor Growth

To determine the effect of the inhibition of Her-2 shedding on tumorgrowth, we evaluated the effect of Compound 2 treatment on tumor size inthe BT474-SC1 xenograft model. As shown in FIG. 28, Compound 2 treatedtumors were significantly smaller on day 6 than vehicle tumors(p=0.0001) and, multiple tumors demonstrated a partial remission(greater than a 25% reduction in tumor volume). A comparison of themagnitude of change in ECD (56%) and tumor volume (27%) indicated thatthe decreased ECD levels were not a reflection of decreased tumorvolume.

The in vivo studies described above demonstrate the ability of sheddaseincluding selective sheddase inhibition, to reduce the shedding of Her-2from tumor cells and impact tumor burden in an acute manner. In order tocharacterize the therapeutic efficacy of selective sheddase inhibitors,experiments were performed in the same model system exposing the mice toprolonged treatment. In one such experiment, another selective sheddaseinhibitor, Compound 3((6S,7S)-6-{[4-phenyl-3,6-dihydropyridin-1(2H)-yl]carbonyl}-N-hydroxy-5-azaspiro[2.5]octane-7-carboxamide),was evaluated in the same BT474-SC1 model over a 28-day period. Whilethe tumors in vehicle treated mice tripled in size of the experimentalperiod, a complete suppression of tumor growth was noted in the micetreated with Compound 3 (FIG. 29). For comparison, another group of micewere treated with Trastuzumab/Herceptin™, a humanized antibody thatbinds Her-2 directly. Note that both treatments produced similar changesto the growth kinetics of the BT-474-SC1 tumors and the lack of overlapin the growth curve merely reflects a larger mean tumor volume for theCompound 3 treated animals at the initiation of the experiments. Takentogether, the data indicate that administration of sheddase inhibitors,including selective sheddase inhibitors, decreases circulating levels ofshed Her-2 ECD, acutely reduces tumor burden, and effectively preventstumor growth during, and even (e.g., at least two weeks) afteradministration ceased.

D. Inhibition of Her-2 Signaling Pathways

Tumors removed from Compound 2 and vehicle treated groups were subjectedto immunohistochemical and western blotting analysis. Her-2 signalingnormally leads to the activation of pathways that control cellularproliferation and survival. To first determine if sheddase inhibitorswere able to impact the proliferative index of human breast cancerxenografts, mice bearing BT-474-SC1 tumors were treated with selectivesheddase inhibitors for 14 days at which time they were sacrificed andtheir tumors removed and divided into portions for freezing and fixation(for paraffin embedding and immunohistochemistry). Paraffin embeddedtumor sections were mounted on slides and used for immunohistochemistry(IHC) to stain for Ki-67, a marker of active cell cycling (FIG. 30A,upper panel). Tumors treated with sheddase inhibitors had significantlyfewer cells staining positive for Ki-67 indicating decreased cellularproliferation.

Furthermore, signaling from Her-2, has been shown to activate theAkt/PKB pathway, it is believed indirectly, through the phosphorylationof specific residues. Activation of this pathway has been shown toaffect tumor cell survival and proliferation pathways (see, e.g., Datta,S. R., et al., 1999, Genes and Development 13:2905-2927) and cellsexpressing high levels of Her-2 appear to be sensitive to perturbationsin this pathway (Hermanto, U., et al., 2001, Oncogene, 20:7551-7562).Thus, it is believed that inhibiting Akt activity will potentiallydecrease tumor cell proliferation while at the same time increasing thesensitivity of cells to stresses that induce apoptosis (e.g. cancerchemotherapeuctics).

To analyze the effects of sheddase inhibition on Akt activity, IHCspecific for phosphorylated Akt was performed on control or treatedtumor samples (described above) (FIG. 30A, lower panel). In addition, toexamine the effects of sheddase inhibition on Akt phosphorylation in thewhole tumor, the levels of total and phospho-Akt were also examined byimmunoblot analysis using specific antibodies (FIG. 30B). Both IHC andimmunoblotting indicated that treatment with selective sheddinginhibitors decreases the amount of phosphorylated Akt in tumors.

Summary

In summary, treatment of mice bearing BT-474-SC1 tumor xenografts, amodel of human breast cancer with high expression of Her-2, withsheddase inhibitors decreased the levels of Her-2 ECD shedding incirculation. Such inhibition of Her-2 shedding is shown to be associatedwith tumor growth inhibition. Molecular effects of shedding inhibitionincluded decreases in the proliferative index treated tumors, asassessed by Ki67 staining, and decreases in survival pathway signalingin tumor cells, as was exemplified by decreased levels of phosphorylatedAkt. This latter effect allows these molecules to be synergistic withother therapeutic treatments when administered in conjunction.

The above results indicate that selective sheddase inhibitors decreasecirculating Her-2 ECD levels in an animal model of human breast cancer.This decrease is associated with suppression of survival and cell cyclesignaling and a tumor growth inhibitory effect.

The disclosures of each and every patent, patent application, andpublication cited herein are hereby incorporated herein by reference intheir entirety.

While this invention has been disclosed with reference to specificembodiments, it is apparent that other embodiments and variations ofthis invention may be devised by others skilled in the art withoutdeparting from the true spirit and scope of the invention. The appendedclaims are intended to be construed to include all such embodiments andequivalent variations.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of treating breast cancer in a patient,wherein said cancer overexpresses Her-2, comprising inhibiting theproliferation of cancer cells that overexpress Her-2 in the patient by:administering to said patient a therapeutically effective amount of ametalloprotease inhibitor that is an ADAM10 inhibitor that inhibitsHer-2 cleavage; and administering to the patient a therapeuticallyeffective amount of an anti-Her-2 antibody.
 2. The method of claim 1,wherein said metalloprotease inhibitor is a hydroxamate compound.
 3. Themethod of claim 1 wherein said metalloprotease inhibitor is selectivefor ADAM10.
 4. The method of claim 1 wherein said ADAM10 inhibitorinhibits cleavage of Her-2 in vivo.
 5. The method of claim 1 whereinsaid antibody is administered simultaneously with said ADAM10 inhibitor.6. The method of claim 1 further comprising administering to saidpatient a cytotoxin.
 7. The method of claim 1 further comprisingadministering to said patient an EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor.
 8. Themethod of claim 6, wherein said cytotoxin is selected from the groupconsisting of paclitaxel, docetaxel, 7-O-methylthiomethyl-paclitaxel,4-desacetyl-4-methylcarbonatepaclitaxel,3′-tert-butyl-3′-N-tert-butyloxycarbonyl-4-deacetyl-3′-dephenyl-3′-N-debenzoyl-4-O-methoxycarbonyl-paclitaxel,C-4 methyl carbonate paclitaxel, epothilone A, epothilone B, epothiloneC, epothilone D, desoxyepothilone A, desoxyepothilone B,[1S-[1R*,3R*(E),7R*,10S*,11R*,12R*,16S*]]-7,11-dihydroxy-8,8,10,12,16-pentamethyl-3-[1-methyl-2-(2-methyl-4-thiazolyl)ethenyl]-4-aza-17-oxabicyclo[14.1.0]heptadecane-5,9-dione,[1S -[1R*,3R*(E),7R*,10S *,11R*,12R*,16S*]]-3-[2-[2-(aminomethyl)-4-thiazoly1]-1-methylethenyl]-7,11-dihydroxy-8,8,10,12,16-pentamethyl-4,17-dioxabicyclo[14.1.0]heptadecane-5,9-dione, doxorubicin, carminomycin,daunorubicin, aminopterin, methotrexate, methopterin,dichloro-methotrexate, mitomycin C, porfiromycin, 5-fluorouracil,6-mercaptopurine, gemcitabine, cytosine arabinoside, podophyllotoxin,etoposide, etoposide phosphate, teniposide, melphalan, vinblastine,vincristine, leurosidine, vindesine, leurosine, estramustine, cisplatin,carboplatin, cyclophosphamide, bleomycin, ifosfamide, melphalan,hexamethyl melamine, thiotepa, cytarabin, idatrexate, trimetrexate,dacarbazine, L-asparaginase, camptothecin, CPT-11, topotecan, ara-C,bicalutamide, flutamide, leuprolide, a pyridobenzoindole, an interferonand an interleukin.
 9. The method of claim 6 wherein said antibody istrastuzumab.
 10. The method of claim 6, wherein said cytotoxin isselected from the group consisting of paclitaxel and cisplatin.
 11. Themethod of claim 7 wherein said kinase inhibitor is gefitinib.
 12. Amethod of treating breast cancer in a patient, wherein said canceroverexpresses Her-2, comprising: detecting that the cancer overexpressesHer-2; and inhibiting the proliferation of cancer cells that overexpressHer-2 in the patient by: administering to the patient a therapeuticallyeffective amount of a metalloprotease inhibitor that is an ADAM10inhibitor that inhibits Her-2 cleavage; and administering to the patienta therapeutically effective amount of an anti-Her-2 antibody.
 13. Themethod of claim 12, wherein said ADAM10 inhibitor is methyl(6S,7S)-7-[(hydroxyamino)carbonyl]-6-[(4-phenylpiperazin-1-yl)carbonyl]-5-azaspiro[2.5]octane-5-carboxylate.14. The method of claim 12, wherein said anti-Her-2 antibody istrastuzumab.
 15. The method of claim 13, wherein said anti-Her-2antibody is trastuzumab.